What's Simple Is True
by Kyizi
Summary: Fourteen years down the line Sam’s life is rapidly falling apart. In a desperate attempt for answers, Sam finds herself being forced to face the past, but she’s not sure she’ll receive a warm reception, or that she’ll ever be able to love again. COMPLETE
1. One

**What's Simple Is True**

**By Kyizi**

**Disclaimer: **Stargate: SG1 and all related items do not belong to me. Only the story and all original characters therein are mine. No copyright infringement intended.

**Rating: **PG

**Spoilers: **Up to "Ascension", season 5.

**Pairings****: **Sam/Orlin, Sam/Jack, Daniel/OC, Janet/Evan Lorne

**Summary: **Fourteen years down the line Sam's life is rapidly falling apart. In a desperate attempt for answers, Sam finds herself being forced to face the past, but she's not sure she'll receive a warm reception from old friends, or that she'll ever be able to love again.

**Dedication: **For loriel_eris, because she's stuck with me since the beginning and loved this story as much as I did.

**Notes:** I posted the first chapter of this fic way back in March 2003 and I made a lot of headway with it before stopping. I didn't pick it back up again until the end of 2006. I've actually had it finished since sometime in 2007, but after the initial rush to finish it, I didn't want to so much as look at it again, because I'd read it so many times. Finally, I've pulled it out and dusted it off as much as I can. I can't seem to get the start re-written, so I can only hope you'll forgive the fact that the writing isn't exactly my best in the initial stages and will stick with it until the end. It is, after all six years old!

x x x x x x x

**Part One**

x x x x x x x

She stared at the stone, unable to believe what had transpired, unwilling to believe that it had really happened. She was alone; once more she was on her own in the world. She had her children and she would never stop loving them, but for the first time in thirteen years, she felt completely and utterly alone.

Her life hadn't been an easy one, but their time together had made everything seem so right that it made all the tough times worth while, because he would always be there for her at the end of it. Now he was gone forever and there was nothing in the world that could change that. Nothing would be the same again.

She reached her hands to cover her face, but there were no tears. All she could feel was the endless sensation of loneliness that encompassed her. All she was left with was the paralysing knowledge that he had left her forever and she didn't know what to do. She took a few steps towards the hole in the ground, staring as they lowered the wooden box, willing herself to feel something, anything at all, but there was nothing.

The people around her began to leave and still she stood at the edge of his grave, watching as they quickly filled it up taking him away from her forever. Something stirred in her and was quickly silenced as she came to the realisation that she wasn't ready to feel yet, she wasn't ready to mourn him, to accept that he was really gone. She looked at his gravestone one last time, before turning to walk away.

She didn't look back.

x x x x x x x

The house was full of people, but it felt so empty without him. Sam glanced around the room and took a moment to compose herself before anyone noticed her. Taking a slow, deep breath, she calmed her thoughts and entered the room, her eyes instantly locating her best friend.

"Hey," Terri moved towards her and pulled her into a hug. "How're ya doin', sweetie?"

"I'm okay, Terri. Where are the kids?"

"The girl's are out back with Mike. He said somethin' about showin' 'em the finer points of hockey. And since he's the one teachin', it might take a while."

Sam smiled a little, but not even she was convinced with its sincerity. "But they're okay?"

"To be honest, honey, I really don' think they understan' what's happened."

"I don't think any of us do," Sam said softly and Terri nodded. "Where's Liam?"

"He's in his room. Won't come out and he's not speakin' to a soul."

Sam closed her eyes and took a deep breath before nodding. Terri smiled and moved to intercept a neighbour before they could reach Sam and she was grateful. Moving quickly to the stairs, she made her way to her son's room, stopping briefly at the door, a faint smile on her face as she looked at the hand made hanging on it that stated it was 'Liam's room'. Orlin had made it almost twelve years ago and it had been in the same place from the minute that Sam had brought their son home from the hospital. She smiled as she recalled that it had originally said 'Laura's room', as Orlin had been convinced it would be a girl. He had completely forgotten about it until Sam had laughed. With a quick wave of his hand it had changed as Sam had muttered, "show off".

There was a crash inside the room and she threw open the door, looking frantically for her son. She stopped as she spotted him sitting on his bed, staring at the broken glass on the floor. On closer inspection she saw that it was the glass from a photo frame. The photo that had sat by his bed since the day it had been developed.

"He's not coming back."

"No," she said, sitting on the bed next to him. "Your father's not coming back."

"He said he'd always be here."

"And he will, he'll always be in our hearts."

"You don't believe that."

"Yes, I do."

"No, you don't!"

Caught off guard by the anger in her son's voice, Sam turned to look at him in shock. It almost hurt to stare at him. He was the very image of his father, from the sandy hair to the sparkle in his hazel-green eyes, everything about him was the same including the even temperament, which was why this sudden outburst had her so surprised.

"He left us! Why can't you just admit that makes you mad? He left us and I hate him for it! He promised me he'd always be there to look after you when you got sad and he's not here anymore! Why can't you say you're mad too? Please be mad too."

Sam sat motionless, watching as her son broke down in front of her and something inside snapped. "I'm mad too, Liam. I'm so mad that he was taken away from us and I hate him for not still being here, I hate him for it, too, honey." She pulled him into her arms as she felt the sting of tears in the corners of her eyes as she glanced at the floor, staring at the photograph in the shattered frame. He was there, frozen in time with his arms around her and a five year old Liam. He smiled up at her and she felt the walls break. She curled up on her son's bed holding on to him as they wept.

x x x x x x x

_Almost two__ years later_

"Sarah! Alice! Hurry up or you're going to be late for school!" Sam moved quickly around the kitchen, filling up the packed lunch boxes with fruit and a chocolate bar. When the children had first gone back to school, she had started out with just the fruit, but it seemed their father had had the habit of giving them chocolate and there had been an outcry, so she had made a deal. They got the chocolate if they ate the fruit as well.

"Momma, Ali stole my pencils again!"

"Alice, give your sister back her pencils and will the two of you please get a move on? Liam, how's that homework coming?"

"It's not here!"

Sighing at the frustration in her son's voice, she closed the last box and made her way up the stairs to his bedroom. "What do you mean it's not there? You finished it last night, I watched you put it in your schoolbag."

"I put it in my schoolbag?" Liam crossed the room and raided through his back, looking back at her a few moments later with a sheepish grin on his face. "Oops."

Sam rolled her eyes and laughed. "Why do you never think of the most obvious place?"

"Dad always said I got that from you. Lots of brains and no common sense."

"I have common sense!"

"Too much most of the time and not enough when it counts!"

"Will you stop quoting your father and please come down stairs?"

"I'm coming."

"Hurry up then." Sam smiled and ruffled his hair before moving quickly down the hallway as the sounds of an argument drifted towards her.

"Give it back!"

"It's mine."

"No, it's not. Momma and Daddy gave it to me!"

"It's not your one, it's mine."

"Girls! What's going on?" Sam entered the room and pulled the two apart. "What are you fighting about?"

"That's my locket!"

"Sarah, honey, can I see the locket?"

Reluctantly, the girl handed over the thin silver chain and Sam turned it over in her hands before giving it back. "Alice, it has an S on it, that's Sarah's locket."

"Then where's mine?"

"Let's have a look. Did you have it on when you went to bed last night?"

"I don't know."

Hearing the wavering in her daughter's voice, Sam turned round and almost smiled at the pouting lip that was slowly shaking. "Come here, little one." Lifting the girl into her arms, she resumed her search of the bed but found nothing.

"It's lost."

"Hey, we'll find it, don't cry."

"Mom!"

"Liam, I'm not deaf, you don't have to shout so loud. What is it?"

Liam bounded into the room and smiled at his sisters before walking across the room. "Look what I found, monster."

"I'm not a monster!" Alice cried.

Liam stuck out his tongue. "Are too! Did you lose this?" He held up a silver chain and she snatched it from his hands.

"My locket!" She squealed and reached out to her brother hugging him.

"Get off!" Liam said with a smile.

Shaking her head, Sam put Alice back on her feet and secured the locket around her neck before fixing Sarah's. "Now, we're going to be late, again! Grab your stuff and let's go!"

x x x x x x x

"Morning, Isabelle, any messages?"

The young brunette behind the desk smiled cheerfully as she handed Sam a bundle of papers. "Jodie MacFarlane called again. She said you had some information on the Allan project that she needed, but she'll call you back."

"I gave her a copy of that file yesterday!"

Isabelle smiled. "I told her that. She lost it."

Sam smiled ruefully. "That girl would be the next Einstein if she could actually remember where she'd put anything. Any other calls?"

"Yeah, Terri called. She said to remin' you that you're s'pposed to take the kids and go to theirs for a barbecue. I also heard Mike in the background, he was yellin' som'thin' about prawns." Isabelle frowned as Sam laughed. "I take it that means somethin'?"

Sam shook her head. "Trust me, Iz, you do not want to know."

"I'll take your word for it. There was also a message left on your machine last night, will I patch it through?"

"Yeah, give me a minute to get things settled and I'll buzz through when I'm ready."

"No problem."

Sam bent forward to open the door with her elbow, trying desperately not to spill coffee all over her files. When the door budged a little, she kicked it open the rest of the way and almost fell onto her floor. She dropped the files on her desk and moved to the window, opening it a little more than Isabelle had that morning. She took in a deep breath and closed her eyes for a moment.

It was a bright day and she wished she was out in it, but it was, unfortunately also a Thursday, which meant that it still wasn't the weekend and she had to work. Sighing, she moved towards her desk and flopped into her seat, swivelling round to face her desk. She leaned forward and her gaze stopped at the photo of her family. It had been taken the previous February when Orlin had convinced them to go to Europe. The kids had loved it and so had Sam, when she had actually managed to stop thinking that they were being traced by the government somehow. The photograph had been taken at Buckingham Palace by another tourist; she and Orlin were sitting on the ledge of a large fountain, Liam and the twins were sitting on the ground in front of them making funny faces. The photo beside it had been taken the same evening. It was her favourite picture of her and Orlin. She was sitting on his lap and they were laughing; they hadn't even realised that Liam had been preparing to take a photograph until the flash had gone off.

She reached out and touched his face, tracing the outline of his jaw with her finger. She missed him so much it physically hurt. She still thought about him every day, still wished he was there. She would hear a funny story or see something that made her angry, or happy, or sad and she would go home to tell him and he wasn't there. Liam or the twins would say something or do something that would make her laugh or make her proud and he wasn't there to share it with her. She hated being alone.

Her telephone buzzed and she jerked out of her thoughts, tapping the intercom. "Sorry, Izy, I'm ready for that message now."

"Sure, but your kids' school is on the phone, they wanna to talk to you."

Panic coursed through her. "Put it through."

"Sure thing, Annie."

"Hello?" Sam asked quickly.

"Ms. Walker?"

"Speaking. Is there something wrong?"

"Well, to be honest, Ms. Walker, I'm not entirely sure what to make of the whole situation. There's been an…incident. I don' want to alarm you, but I think you'd best come down to the school straight away."

"Are my children okay?"

"Your girls are fine and, as far as we can tell, so's your son."

"What do you mean, as far as you can tell?"

"Like I said, Ms. Walker, I really think you should come down to the school."

"I'm on my way."

There was a click as the conversation ended, but Sam was already on her feet and grabbing her jacket. Making sure she had her keys, she ran from the office.

"Everythin' okay, Annie?"

"I'm not sure. I have to go. There might be something wrong with Liam."

"Okay. That gentleman who left you a message last night is on hold at the moment. What will I-"

"Take a message, I'll call in later for it."

"Sure thing, Annie. I hope everythin's all right. You give Liam a hug for me."

"I will, Isabelle."

The drive to the school was short; a lot shorter than it would have been had she been paying complete attention to the speed limits. There was a constriction in her chest at the thought of something being wrong with her son and she had to get to him as quickly as possible.

Pulling into a parking space, she quickly turned off the engine and jumped out of the car, barely giving herself the time to lock it before running towards the entrance. She moved quickly through the colourful hallways and reached the reception, instantly pressing the bell for attention.

A plump, elderly woman emerged from behind a glass door and made her way to the desk. "Can I help you?"

"Ms. Annie Walker, I'm here to see Mrs. Connor."

"One moment please." She picked up the telephone and pressed a button, announcing Sam's presence and placed the receiver down a moment later. "Mrs. Connor will see you now. Do you want me to show you the way?"

"It's okay, I know the way." Sam turned and quickly ran towards the office, knocking loudly on the door the moment she reached it.

"Come in."

Entering the room, she moved instantly to Liam who seemed to be more than a little scared. "Liam, honey, what's wrong?" When he said nothing, she turned questioningly to Mrs. Connor. The headmistress was a stern looking young woman, but Sam knew her to be very warm hearted. At the moment, however, she seemed a little frightened herself.

"What happened?"

"I'm not entirely sure, Annie. It seems that an elder boy was pickin' on Liam and-"

"Oh, God, honey, are you okay?"

"He's perfectly fine. Unfortunately, that's the problem."

"Excuse me?" Sam stood up, not quite sure she had heard the woman correctly.

"That came out wrong. What I meant was, the boy tried to hit Liam, when I say there was a problem, I mean that his fist didn' hit Liam."

"And how is that a problem?" Sam asked angrily.

"Because the boy's fist seemed to go right through Liam's head."

x x x x x x x

**END OF PART ONE**


	2. Two

**What's Simple Is True**

**By Kyizi**

_**Disclaimer etc in chapter one**_

x x x x x x x

**Part Two**

x x x x x x x

He was smiling at her. That was the way she liked to remember him. He always seemed to be happy, in varying degrees, but he was always happy. He could make her smile whenever she was sad, whenever she missed her family, or her friends, or any part of her old life. There were times when all she had wanted was to see her father or her visit her brother and his family or…anyone else from before. She knew those times showed on her face and she knew that they scared her children, especially Liam, scared them because the children knew nothing of her old life, of who she really was, or who their father was. They knew nothing about her past and now she had to introduce them to it.

Sam stared at the photograph one last time, before placing it into the bag. She was trying to economise, trying to take as little as possible with her, but there were photographs she could not live without, memories that she had to take. She picked up the last of her clothes and placed them on the top of her bag, hoping that it would close. She had packed the girl's things, but allowed Liam to take his own. It made him feel a little more grown up and there was no room in her case as it was.

There was a thump against the wall as Liam closed his cabinet with a lot more force than was necessary and she closed her eyes. She had no idea how to explain this to him. How could she tell her eleven year old son that his father was an alien with magical powers, which meant that he was half alien and that he seemed to have some powers as well? She knew he had wanted to be superman when he was younger, but she doubted this was what he had in mind, it certainly hadn't been her plan for his life. She wanted answers about this, but more than anything she just wanted to keep him safe and that made her question her decision.

She was terrified. As much as she wanted to go back to a lot of things in her past, there was a lot that scared her, and the safety of her children was the biggest fear. She knew that the government would try to take them to perform tests and she was _not_ about to let that happen. But she needed to find out more.

She had no idea what had been going on at the SGC over the last fourteen or so years, but she hoped that Daniel might have some answers. She prayed that Sha'uri's son might have returned to them at some point and that he would be able to help her understand what was happening to Liam. He had been taken and raised by one of Orlin's people and that gave her hope, even if it was just a small amount.

She glanced at her clock and her stomach twisted. It was almost time to pick up the twins from school. "Liam, are you packed?" When there was no reply, Sam sighed and picked up her case before going to his room. "Liam, are you ready to go?" He still didn't reply and Sam sat next to him on the bed. His case was at their feet and it was closed, but Sam didn't reach for it, instead she placed hers next to it.

"I know you're scared, honey, but it'll be okay. We're going on a trip and we'll find out what's been happening to you." Liam made no indication that he had heard her and he made no move to answer. Sam put her arm around him and pulled him close, kissing the top of his head. "We'll get through this, I promise." She leaned down and picked up their bags. She reached for him and pulled him to his feet, leading him out of the house.

The drive back to the school was quiet and Sam kept glancing to the passenger seat, making sure that Liam was… what she didn't know, but she kept checking on him all the same. She made a quick call to her work, Isabelle had already gone but Sam left a message telling her that she had a family emergency and she would be in touch soon.

She parked outside the school gates just as children began to stream out of the building. It didn't take the girls long to spot her and they hurried into the back seats, quickly fastening their seatbelts.

"Hey, guess what," Sam said, leaning between the front seats to look at her daughters. "We're going on a little trip."

"Yeay!" Alice bounced in her seat, but Sarah was frowning at her.

"What is it, honey?"

"Some people at school were calling Liam names."

Sam tried to keep her façade in place as she falsely smiled at them. "Don't you worry about that, we're going on a plane and we're going to have a nice holiday, okay?" Alice grinned and nodded enthusiastically, but her sister seemed rather reluctant. Sam squeezed Sarah's knee before turning back to the steering wheel. She let out a breath and checked her mirrors, aware that there were people staring at them through the windows, and glanced at Liam who barely seemed aware of anything, he certainly hadn't acknowledged Alice and Sarah, and he was still as silent as the moment she had seen him in the school office.

She started the engine and pulled away from the school, wanting nothing more than to be on the plane. She had no idea what lay in store for her at the SGC, but she suddenly had the feeling that there was nowhere else she would rather be. All she had to do was hope that there would be a warm reception waiting for her when she got there.

x x x x x x x

It hadn't taken as long to fly as Sam had hoped, and nine hours later she was sitting in the hotel room, unpacking their cases. For what seemed like a lifetime away, very little seemed to have changed, at least so far. The city remained the same, most of the housing estates they had driven through, while the numbers had increased, were no different. It was almost like walking through a memory and a large part of her was just waiting until she woke up to find it had been a surreal dream, that she would wake up and Orlin would smile at her and tell her that everything was fine.

"Momma, I'm tired."

Sam turned to the bed, smiling as Sarah rubbed her eyes with her small fists. Alice had fallen asleep the minute she had lain on the bed, but Sarah, as always, seemed to have too much running through her mind to reach the same dreamland.

"Then close your eyes and go to sleep."

"I tried, it won't work. And Ali keeps kicking me."

Sam smiled and looked at her other daughter at the bottom of the bed. As usual, Alice had taken up most of the bed. She was sprawled all over it and half way down it, so that her feet were more than halfway onto Sarah's half. Sam walked across the room and gently pulled Alice back to the bottom of the bed and tucked her in, before moving to Sarah and doing the same.

"Now then, little bit, let's get you off to sleep."

"Momma, will you sing me a lubaly?"

Sam smiled. "You mean a lullaby?" Sarah stuck out her tongue and Sam ruffled her hair. As much as she saw Orlin in Liam, she couldn't deny that the girls were all her. There was a slightness about their faces that was the same as their fathers, but their identical long blonde curls and sparkling blue eyes were carbon copies of her. Softly she began to sing the whisper of a song, a gentle lullaby that she had heard Orlin singing to them so many times, knowing that Sarah didn't care that she couldn't carry the tune well.

"Sleep sweet, little child,

Close your eyes, my precious one

And sleep won't pass you by.

Hold my hand, little child,

The world is far below.

Come and find the dream land in the sky."

Sam continued to hum softly, lulling her daughter into sleep, before sitting quietly over her. For a moment, she just watched as Sarah's breathing slowed and the girl finally fell asleep. She leaned to kiss her daughter's forehead before moving back to the other bed to unpack the rest of their things. When that was done, Sam glanced at the empty bed on the other side of the room and sighed. It was getting late and she desperately wanted to sleep, but she knew she would not be able to until she could be sure that her son was okay.

Walking out onto the balcony, she shivered; glad she had picked up a blanket on her way out. She sat on the chair next to Liam and curled her feet under her. He still hadn't spoken and Sam didn't know what to tell him. She knew that the truth about his father would be too hard to accept at the best of times, but at that moment she knew it would have made him hate Orlin, and that was something she could not handle. Instead, she decided to give him another target.

She reached out and pulled Liam into her side and he didn't resist. She pulled the blanket tight around them both and kissed his head before speaking. "Honey, I know you're confused at the moment and I know you don't understand why I've brought you here, but there's something I need to tell you. I know you always wondered why I was so sad sometimes and I know your dad never told you either. Liam, I'm not…" her voice faltered. How could she tell her son that she had lied to him all his life?

She took a deep breath, "Liam, I used to be a different person. Before you were born, your father and I lived a different life, but it was something we had to run away from, to protect us and to protect you and Alice and Sarah. But these are the only people I know that can help you and I need you to know that things are going to be a little different. I know it's a lot to ask you, honey, but I need you to be strong, I need you to be strong for all of us."

***

"Are we going to the zoo?"

"No, Alice, we're-"

"Are we going to the park?"

"No, we-"

"Are we going to-"

"Can we visit a moosum?"

"Museum, little bit, and no. We're going to visit some old friends of mommy's, okay?"

"Can we go someplace after?"

Sam laughed a little. "We'll see." Alice and Sarah were more excited than she had seen them in a long time. She only wished that Liam could feel the same. She wished that they really were on a family holiday.

The drive to his house seemed to be as much second nature as it had always been, despite the fact that she had spent very little time there. Most of their time together had been on base or off world, but she still felt like she knew everything as well as she always had. She only hoped he still lived there and that he would be at home.

A few minutes later, she stopped outside and took a deep breath. She turned to Liam and touched his shoulder, he didn't speak, but he did turn to look at her. "I need you to stay here and look after the girls, okay?" He nodded and she smiled, squeezing his shoulder before turning to the back seats. "You girls be good, I'll be back in a minute, okay?"

"Okay!" they screeched in unison.

"Girls! Quiet down," she said with a laugh.

Sam stepped out of the car and tapped the window, ensuring that Liam locked the doors, before turning to look at the building. Despite being a little older and slightly more run down, it looked almost exactly as she remembered. She took a deep breath and quickly made her way up the stairs to his doorway, hesitating a little before she knocked.

After what seemed like a long time, she heard movement behind the door and a few seconds later it slowly creaked open. An elderly woman smiled at her, slightly confused.

"Hi, I'm sorry, I'm looking for Dr. Daniel Jackson. He used to live here?"

"Oh! Hello dear. No, no, that lovely Dr. Jackson moved out a long time ago. Must be five or six years now, he and that lovely wife of his moved into a pretty little house in Wallace Road. You know, down by the post office. Lovely couple they are, lovely neighbourhood as well. I swear, if my Bernard were alive, I'd make sure he got me one of them fancy houses too!"

Sam smiled and laughed. "Well, thank you. I'm sorry to bother you."

"No bother. If you wait here, they should be by soon."

"They'll be coming here?" Sam asked, panic suddenly gripping her at the knowledge that she was going to see Daniel. Somehow the fact that he was going to arrive to find her was worse than her knocking on his door.

"Oh, yes! Like I said, lovely couple. They come by every Tuesday with my shopping. I can't make it up the stairs with all those bags. No, they bring them for me. Lovely couple."

"Oh, well, my children are in the car and-"

"Children? Oh, well, you go and get them and I'll have some biscuits all laid out for them."

"I don't want to put you to any trouble, Mrs…"

"Oh, call me Rose, dear, and its no trouble at all, anything for a friend of Daniel." With that Rose moved back into the house, leaving the door slightly ajar, obviously so that Sam could get back in when she returned with the kids.

She headed out to the car, slightly unsure as to exactly what she was doing. She tapped the window and Liam unlocked the door. She leaned in and put a big smile on her face. "Hey guys, come on, lets go up."

"If your friend there?" Alice asked as she unclipped her seatbelt.

"No, not yet, but he should be coming soon to visit the lady that lives there now."

"Do we have to wait for him?" Sarah asked, moving over to Alice's side of the car so that they could get out when Sam opened the door.

"Yes, is that okay?"

"Uh huh, will your friend come to the moosum with us?"

"No, the park!"

Sam laughed and opened the door to let them out, "Sorry, Ali, but I think he'd prefer the museum, but he might be busy. So I don't want you two forcing him into anything, do you hear me?"

The girls nodded and Sam closed the back door, leaning in to the front again. "Come on, Liam."

Five minutes later, they were sitting in Rose's living room and Sam almost laughed at how completely different it looked. The walls, once white, were a rather bright shade of pink, nothing too brash, but bright enough that Sam could see Daniel wincing every time he entered the room. Also, there were vases of flowers dotted here and there, something Sam knew Daniel would never have. He took regular medication to help with his allergies, but his job was dangerous enough without further tempting fate by having flowers in the house. Yes, she was sure Daniel must cringe at the way his old apartment looked now, but at the same time, it seemed to fit Rose perfectly.

The girls were sitting on the floor with some colouring books that Rose had hidden away, and given that they were half full, Sam assumed the woman had grandchildren. Liam, however, was sitting quietly on the chair, holding onto his glass of milk and Sam was almost mortified that he hadn't answered any of Rose's questions with anything more than a nod of the head.

There was a click from the hallway and the voice that followed almost had Sam jumping out of the nearest window. "Rose? Where are you?"

"Oh, we're in the living room, Daniel."

"We?"

Sam turned to the doorway, a half smile on her face as Daniel entered. Just as she had suspected, there was a slight wince on his face as he glanced at the decor. He smiled at her and turned to Rose. He opened his mouth to speak, but stopped, his eyes widening as he turned back to face her, unable to speak.

"Hi, Daniel."

There was a pause. Nobody said a word and the twins had stopped colouring to stare at the 'strange man in the doorway who was moving his mouth like a fish'. The moment was broken only when a voice echoed through the hallway. "Daniel, can you come give me a hand with these, Katie dropped a bag in the hall and she's not moving?"

When Daniel didn't reply, a young brunette entered the room, frowning. "Daniel, didn't you hear me?"

"I, eh, sorry, sure. I'll go get Katie."

The woman glanced at Sam again and a sudden recognition sparked in her eyes. "No, it's okay, I'll go, you stay here and, well, I'll go." She left the room just as the sounds of a child crying floated into the room.

Sam stood up and walked nervously to her friend. "Hi, Daniel," she said again, softer this time.

"Sam." Daniel broke into a grin and pulled her into his arms, holding onto her tightly.

They stood there, holding each other for a long time, not moving until a small voice said, "Who's daddy hugging?" They both pulled apart laughing and looked at the small girl who was staring up at them with the cutest look of confusion Sam had seen on any child. This was definitely Daniel's daughter.

Sam kneeled down beside her and held out her hand. The little girl shook it and Sam smiled. "Hi there, my name's Annie,"

"I'm Katie. Do you know my daddy?"

"I do."

"Eh, Sam?" Sam looked up at him and almost laughed at the look on his face. It was all but identical to the look she had seen on his daughter's face a few moments before. "I know that's been your alias for a long time, but last I checked your real name wasn't actually Annie."

"Oh!" Sam was surprised, having not even given a second thought to what she was saying. She was Annie, but she was also Sam, and to her that wasn't a confusing issue. "Yeah, we have a lot to talk about Daniel."

"Yes, but first can you tell my daughter that you're Sam? She's been waiting a long time to meet her Auntie Sam."

"Auntie Sam?" Katie squealed and threw her arms around Sam.

"Wow!" Sam laughed. "If I'd known I was going to get this reception, I would have said I was Sam right away!"

There was giggling behind her and Sam turned to see the twins staring at her. Alice scrunched up her face. "Momma, Sam's a boy's name! You're Annie."

"Looks like I'm not the only one with a family," Daniel said with a smile and Sam stood up. "Sorry, Sam, this is my wife, Amy. She works at the, well, she works with us at the base."

Sam nodded and turned to Amy, shaking the woman's hand. "It's nice to meet you."

Amy smiled. "Actually, we've met before. You probably don't remember me, though."

Sam frowned and looked at her again. "You do look familiar, but I can't place it."

"I was a member of 7 when you were on the base."

"Of course! You were the young lieutenant that used to run the betting pool!"

Daniel and Amy laughed before the woman replied, "Yeah, that was me. I made a lot of money on that pool. Lost a lot as well."

"Yeah," Daniel said, looking at Sam. "We all did." There was an uncomfortable moment and Sam was sure Daniel was referring to something that involved her, but no one commented on it. There was more giggling from behind her and Sam turned as Daniel smiled again. "So are you going to introduce us, Sam?"

"Oh, sorry! Girls, I want you to come and meet your Uncle Daniel. Daniel, this is Alice and this is Sarah."

"How can you tell them apart?" Daniel asked, laughing as he kneeled down to receive a double hug.

"Trust me, it's not always easy! And this," Sam said turning to indicate her son, "is Liam."

Amy smiled and moved towards him. "Hey there, Liam."

When Liam didn't say anything, Rose spoke for him. "He's a little shy, Amy. Must be all the new people."

"Of course." Amy smiled and sat next to him on the arm of his chair. "We'll talk later."

"So, Sam," Daniel said, sitting on the settee, smiling when the twins sat either side of him and Katie crawled onto his lap. "As much as I'm thrilled to see you, I'm guessing this isn't a social visit. You got my messages I take it."

"Messages?" Sam frowned, suddenly remembering that Isabelle had mentioned a gentleman had been trying to get in touch with her. "That was you? No, with…everything that was happening, I didn't get the chance to listen to your messages."

"Then you don't know about General Hammond?"

Sam sat at the edge of the couch, sure she knew what was coming, but not willing to let herself believe it. "What about General Hammond?"

Daniel gave her a sad smile. "He died last week, Sam."

x x x x x x x

Sam walked slowly through the trees, feeling as if she had never left. All around her were names in stone, and she felt so guilty because all her thoughts were on Orlin. She was there to visit Hammond and she had to force herself to remember him and that made her feel even worse. She had so many regrets about her old life, and not keeping in touch had been necessary, but it was her biggest regret. She always remembered their birthdays, any days that were special to them; she always prayed for Jack on the anniversary of Charlie's death. But Jack was someone she definitely did not want to think about at that moment.

Daniel had known that she would want to visit Hammond's grave, and she had been eternally grateful when Amy and Daniel had offered to take the children out somewhere, dropping her at the graveyard along the way. She had crept slowly out of the car, not so much worried about leaving the children with Daniel, as leaving Liam's situation – which she had yet to explain – with them.

Thoughts of her children, however, were soon forced to make way for memories of the past. After hearing the news, Sam had sat in silence, absolutely stunned. Hammond was not that old, and in her eyes he never would be. The image that she retained in her mind was of a man full of life. A family man. A man she had known for so long that he was a part of her family, a part of her life that she had one day hoped to share with her children. And now they would never have that chance to know him. And she would never have that chance to say sorry, to apologise for running away. As memories assaulted her senses, she found herself wishing that same thing she always did; she wished for nothing more than to be with her father.

She wasn't sure when her tears had started, but they continued to flow and she felt so much anger at the situation and at herself. She had been the one who had removed herself from his life, from her life at the SGC and she hated herself for it. But she could never change her decision, even if time itself would bend to her will, she could never change it. If she changed her past, she would erase her children and her life with Orlin. Their lives as Annie and Kevin Walker hadn't been easy, but they had been able to live, even though they carried with them the constant fear that they would be tracked down.

Sighing, she turned up the path, walked by four rows of graves and stopped at the fifth, just as Daniel had told her. She slowly walked past the graves one at a time, reading the names until she reached his; General George Hammond. Daniel had told her on the drive that General Hammond had retired only a year after she had left, so she wasn't surprised that his rank was the same, what she was surprised by was the fact that she was not alone at his grave. She was with the one person she did not want to face.

Slowly, he turned around, his surprise written all over his face. "Sam?"

She took a deep breath, and offered him a nervous smile. "Hi, Jack."

x x x x x x x

The silence was almost claustrophobic in its intensity and Sam wasn't sure how long it was before she actually remembered to breathe again. She had not wanted to run into him like that, just out of the blue. There were things that people just needed time to prepare for and this was one of them. So many things from her past had been creeping into her thoughts since Orlin's death, so many things that she had tried to forget that continued to resurface in her mind.

Her memories, although in perfect condition, seemed like dreams; as if they were part of a life she had never lived rather than one she had simply tried to forget. She had held onto everything for so long that it was making her miserable and Orlin had almost left her. Until she had got pregnant with Liam, she had felt as if her life was slipping away from her, as if she had lost her identity among the lies. But Liam had changed that, he had given them both a new reason to keep on fighting. And she had. She had fought until they had forgotten that was what she had been doing. And the people she had left behind had been lost.

Her focus returned to Jack as he stood up, looking at her as if she was about to disappear any second. She studied him, took in every inch of him. He hadn't changed much; his hair was definitely thinning and a lot greyer than she remembered. The lines on his face were etched more into the fabric of his skin and he had a noticeable scar above his left eyebrow that she didn't remember having seen before. He was wearing blue jeans, a white t-shirt and the leather jacket she had always loved to see him in, and she felt as if she had slipped back in time.

He continued to stare at her and after a few more minutes, she began to shift uncomfortably. It wasn't as if she'd never been under his gaze before, in fact, a part of her used to love it when his eyes had seemed to be searching out her soul, but things were different now. She was different now. Everything had changed since that last time she had looked into those eyes and she wasn't so sure that she was ready for him to judge her yet.

"You grew your hair."

Of all the things Sam had expected to hear, that was the last thing on her mind. She allowed the edge of her mouth to quirk into a small smile and nodded, her right hand instinctively reaching up to play with the edge of her hair.

"There was nothing to stop me anymore."

His eyes hardened and she instantly knew that was the wrong thing to say. The Air Force couldn't have stopped her because she had run away from it; she had run away from her old life, she had run away from him. She closed her eyes and tried to think of something to say, anything that could bring some kind of peace to the conversation, but when she opened her eyes again, she didn't have to say anything, because she was standing in front of General Hammond's grave alone.

x x x x x x x

**END OF PART TWO**


	3. Three

**What's Simple Is True**

**By Kyizi**

_**Disclaimer**__** etc in chapter one**_

x x x x x x x

**Part Three**

x x x x x x x

"Uncle Daniel, can we get ice cream?"

"Not until you've eaten dinner. We have to wait for your mom to get back and then you can ask her."

"Puh-_lease_, Uncle Daniel!"

"I...no, not until your mom's here."

"_Please_?"

"My five year old children aren't beating you into submission already, are they, Daniel?" Sam grinned, coming round the side of the bench.

"Momma!"

Sarah and Alice jumped off the bench and grabbed a hold of one of Sam's legs each, rendering her immobile. She laughed and peeled them away, swinging them into her arms.

"Ugh, you guys are getting heavy!" She pretended she was about to drop them and they squealed before wriggling out of her grasp and running off to the swing set to play. Sam laughed and sat down on the bench next to Daniel. After a moment, she felt his hand slip into hers and squeeze it.

"How are you?"

"I'm okay."

He squeezed her hand again and she turned to look at him. "How are you?"

Tears pricked her eyes and she closed them over. "I met Jack at General Hammond's grave."

"Oh." Daniel's eyes widened and he cleared his throat. "That, eh, that can't have helped."

Sam laughed humourlessly. "That's an understatement. I can't even begin to think of the repercussions with my life, never mind with the Colonel, I just-"

"General."

"What?"

"Jack's a General now, Sam."

"Oh." Sam took a few moments to digest the information before smiling a little. "Good for him."

"Sam, don't even start to think about Jack at the moment. Something brought you here and if it wasn't my messages, then it was still something important. So I'm gonna ask you again. How are you?"

Sam took a few moments and she was sure that Daniel must have thought she was going to ignore him again. "I'll make you a deal. Let's not think about it just now, we can go back to the hotel, I'll put the kids to bed early and then you can tell me how you tracked me down and I'll explain what's been going on with me over the last fourteen years and you can do the same."

Daniel smiled and nodded. "I have a better idea. Why don't we leave the kids with Amy and head over to the hotel and we can talk without worrying about waking the kids."

Sam smiled. "I really wouldn't want to subject your wife to the twins when they're this hyperactive. Not to mention Liam." Her gaze turned to her son, who was sitting on a swing, moving slowly back and forth with his feet, staring at the ground. "He's been...well-"

"Its okay, Sam, she's been putting up with me for years, I think she can handle the twins. She's good at getting people to think they're getting what they want, when really it's just her giving as much as she's willing to."

Sam laughed. "I take it you have first hand experience with this?"

"Oh, yeah." Daniel smiled and squeezed her hand again. "Come on, it'll be fine. And whatever is wrong will keep for another day."

"I don't know, Daniel. Things are...complicated."

"And sharing them isn't going to make them any worse. It might just make them better."

Sam smiled and nodded. "Okay, we'll talk."

After heading back to the hotel and packing some clothes for the children, Sam followed the directions to the Jackson house. She was greeted by a large honey coloured Labrador that bounded down the path and jumped on her, pinning her to the car. Laughing, Sam extracted herself from the animal, petting it and leading it back towards the house. She knocked on the door but got no reply and instead, followed the dog, and the sound of screaming children, around the side of the house to the back yard.

"Auntie Sam!"

Sam smiled and dropped to her knees, scooping up Katie as the dripping wet girl bounded into her arms. "Somebody's having fun," Sam said with a laugh. "What are you up to?"

"Mommy's chasing us with the hose. Ali didn't want to play 'cause she got all wet."

Sam placed Katie back on the ground and the girl instantly ran off towards Sarah, the two girls squealing as Amy approached them with the hose. Sam laughed and looked around the garden, noticing Alice sitting in the corner pouting. Since Liam was nowhere in sight, she assumed he was in the house with Daniel, and she went to speak to her daughter.

"Alice, what's wrong? Why aren't you playing?"

"Sarah stood on my foot and she wouldn't say sorry. Daddy always said we had to 'pologise."

"Oh, sweetie, I'm sure Sarah didn't mean it."

"But she didn't say sorry."

"I'm sorry, Ali."

Sam turned around and smiled at her other daughter, who had snuck up on them. She pulled the dripping wet girl into her arms and kissed the top of her wet head. Turning, she saw that Alice was now grinning. The two girls hugged and Sam smiled before jumping up in shock. She looked down as water dripped from her clothes and hair. The girls all squealed with laughter as Sam turned to face Daniel's wife, who was grinning wickedly at her.

"I cannot believe you just did that!" Sam laughed.

"I can." Daniel said, entering the back yard, laughing at his friend. Shaking his head he indicated the house and Sam frowned, noticing Liam sitting on the patio steps.

Sam turned and mock glared at Amy. "I'll get you back for that one, Major Jackson, count on it."

"I can't wait." Amy laughed and started chasing the girls again. Sam shook her head, hoping to dislodge as much water as possible before walking to Daniel and handing him the backpack that had the children's things in it.

"You certainly have your hands full with that one, Daniel."

"You have no idea." Daniel laughed. "Throw in Katie and the dog and trust me, you don't want to be here for April fools."

Sam laughed before heading up the garden to the patio. She squeezed the excess water from her t-shirt before sitting next to her son. She knew her worry had to be evident on her face, but she didn't care. Liam was never quiet. The only time she had ever seen him so quiet had been just after Orlin's death, but it hadn't taken him long to break. This was different. He didn't have his father and he was pushing her away even more forcefully than he ever had before and she hated it. She hated that she couldn't reach her son, hated that his life had been built on lies, but most of all, she hated that he looked so lost and alone.

She reached a wet arm out and pulled him against her side. He struggled to get away from her, but she refused to let him go. "Liam, honey, just listen to me." His struggling ceased and she took a deep breath. "I'm going to go back to the hotel with Daniel tonight. I'm going to tell him everything and he's going to help us, okay? I need you to stay here with Ali and Sarah and keep them safe, can you do that for me?"

After a moment, Liam nodded and Sam smiled sadly. "Thank you," she whispered and kissed his head.

She let him go and stood up, moving back into the garden, not looking back for fear her heart would break just looking at how lost Liam was. Daniel was simultaneously kissing his wife and struggling to get the hose from her grasp. The girls were giggling up at them and Sam had to smile. She had rarely seen Daniel so happy. Before she even realised it had happened, he had grabbed the hose and was chasing Amy around the garden with it. After a few minutes, he gave the hose to the girls and ran towards the side of the house, indicating that Sam should follow him before Amy caught up with him.

Laughing, Sam ran around the house to find him sitting in her car. She slipped in the driver's seat and shook her head. "Something tells me you're going to pay for that one later," she said, smirking.

"Oh, I'm counting on it!"

x x x x x x x

The drive between Daniel's house and the hotel was fairly short, and after eating in the small hotel restaurant, Daniel and Sam made their way into the hotel room and headed straight for the mini bar. There was a friendly silence as they made themselves comfortable on the swinging couch that was on the veranda.

"So," Daniel said expectantly.

"So." Sam sighed. "I, I don't know where to begin, really."

"Well, why don't you start with your disappearance."

"You make it sound so ominous."

"Well, Sam, you just disappeared. We thought you might be dead. You left without a single word to anyone and, no, I don't include the time Jack saw you in the elevator."

Sam smiled. "I should have known you'd believe it was real."

"Well, Jack believed it was, so if he did, then it must have been true. You know what Jack's like, he never believes all 'that old mumbo jumbo'."

Sam smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I guess." There was a slight pause and Sam sighed, knowing that there was no point in putting things off any longer.

x x x x x x x

Sam sighed and rubbed her red, puffy eyes. She wasn't even sure how long she'd cried for, only that it had felt good to finally let it all out. Daniel had been supportive, he'd held her for a long time, just letting her cry and he'd finally filled her in on everything that had happened since she had been away. He had told her how he had met Amy and she had laughed at the description of their destined-to-fail first date, that had consequently led him to assume that would be the end of it, only to discover how wrong he was.

She wasn't surprised to hear that Jack had been in charge of the base only to hand in his resignation and return to the field. Jack never had been one for a desk job and Sam really couldn't picture him staying in one for long. Teal'c had eventually returned to Chulak to fight with his people. After his son had been taken by the Goul'd, yet again, he, Jack, Daniel and Lt. Fairgreave (her replacement) had rescued the boy, only to leave their friend behind on his home planet.

However, the thing that surprised her most of all was that Cassie was married. The little girl she had helped rescue so long ago was married, and had been for over a year. The young girl had studied Astophysics at university, according to Daniel, in order to follow in her footsteps. It was something that she had trouble picturing. Cassie was still a small child in her eyes, and to know that she was married, had her degree and was now working at the SGC was just beyond her comprehension.

Sam pulled back the covers and crawled into bed, pulling the quilt over her head, hoping to forget what tomorrow would bring. Daniel had made her promise to go to the base with him. It was something she knew she had to do, but that didn't mean she had to like it. If the day she had just made it through had shown her anything, it was that facing Jack was likely to be the most difficult thing she would ever do. And she wanted to put it off as long as possible. But he knew she was in town. He knew that she was likely to turn up at the base, and most importantly, he knew that he deserved an explanation.

With thoughts of Jack running through her mind, Sam drifted off to sleep...

_  
__The light seemed to seep into every fibre of her body. It was harsh, but it didn't hurt, instead, it was accompanied by a strange sense of calm. The light seemed to pulse around her. She could see everything around her, it floated below her, and yet she was not a part of it. The whoosh of the Stargate closing seemed muffled within her cocoon of light and she had to force herself to keep breathing when she saw who had come through._

_  
__There were four of them, dressed in a uniform she would recognise blindfolded with only her hands to guide her. They moved slowly, having sensed no need for haste. She had known they would come from the moment the MALP had come through, and she had forced Orlin to make sure that their home would not be seen. The world around them was desolate and if she was honest with herself, she hated it. She had thought that being with Orlin would make everything all right, and to an extent it did. But there was only so long a person could go without the company of more than one person. _

_  
__They were both within the protection of Orlin's people now, but that didn't make for much in the area of conversation. His sacrifice had allowed the forgiveness of his people and in turn, he had instantly returned to the planet and taken her away from everything she had known. But he was alive, both corporeal and not. He had all he could want and she was still unhappy. And now, watching the people she missed the most walking mere inches below her, she understood why._

_  
__"Okay, pan out. Daniel, you're with me, Teal'c take Fairgreave and head into the hills. Report back if you find the naquada."_

_  
__Sam wasn't sure how long she watched them, but when night fell and her friends were asleep, under the watchful eyes of their new Lieutenant, she felt tears falling. Orlin had left her on the branches of a tall tree, knowing that she would need the time alone and all she had been able to do was remember. Remember what life had been like as a part of SG1, remember her father, her brother, her friends, everyone she had left behind to follow this life with the man she had so quickly fallen in love with. But most of all, she missed Earth. She missed her way of life, she missed her people._

_  
__"Sam?"___

_The gentle whisper caused her to smile and she turned slightly as the light reached the tree branch. Orlin surrounded her and took her a safe distance from the camp, and when the light faded and he was standing before her, she saw the Stargate circling behind him._

_  
__"You want to return."_

_  
__Sam smiled sadly. "I don't think I can live like this any longer Orlin. I need to go home. I don't care if we have to hide away on Earth, but I need to be around people again, Orlin. And I miss..."_

_  
__"You miss him."_

_  
__"I miss my friends, my family. Yes, of course I do."_

_  
__"Then we shall return."_

_  
__It had been the hardest thing she could remember doing. She had been forced to remain at a safe distance from her friends. Watching their friendly camaraderie as an observer rather than a participant, was heartbreaking. But she had forced herself to remain silent. The trip had been long, but the wait at the base had been excruciating. They had had to wait until someone had left in order to follow them to the surface._

_  
__Jack had finally made his way to the top of the base and she hated the look on his face. His face seemed worn and weathered more than it ever had. Years of keeping himself together seemed to crumble the minute he stepped into the lift alone, his facade dropping, and Sam felt her heart break._

_  
__"Sam?"___

_Her eyes widened and she gripped Orlin tighter. How could he have known? It wasn't possible, and yet he was looking straight at her, a look of disbelief in his eyes as Orlin whisked her away the minute the doors opened._

_  
__There was a loud knocking. It was getting louder until she couldn't bear it any longer...___

  
"Sam!"

She jerked awake and whirled around, surprised to see Daniel crouched by her bed. A moment later, all her memories surfaced and she nodded, standing and pulling her robe tightly around her. She moved quickly to the door and glanced through the peephole and gasped.

"What? What is it?"

Without even turning to look at him, Sam opened the door. Nodding briefly at the three officers, she set her lips in a grim line.

"Major Samantha Carter?" Sam nodded and the man instantly turned her around, twisting her arms behind her back and locking handcuffs in place.

"What the hell is going on?" Daniel moved towards them, only to be stopped by one of the men.

"Major Carter, you are under arrest."

"What? Leave her alone!"

"Leave it, Daniel." Sam shook her head and moved to the doorway without struggling. "I'm due a court martial and we both know it."

"But..."

"Just take care of my kids for me. And remember what I told you about Liam. Take good care of my boy, Daniel."

Daniel nodded and Sam smiled sadly, moving out of the door, struggling to keep her head held high, despite the looks she was receiving from the people passing by. She had expected this sooner or later, but if she was honest, she expected it more later. There were very few people who knew she had returned and she could only think of one that would have turned her in.

x x x x x x x

The room was small and cold and she couldn't help the involuntary shiver every time there was so much as a noise from the hallway. She huddled up on her bed and glanced at the bars on the small window that was so far up the wall, she couldn't even see through it on tiptoes. She had only been in the confines of the room for two days, but it felt as thought she had been there for weeks.

The moon was shining through, casting a sliver of light across the floor and she had to force herself to keep back her tears. Sarah had always been afraid of the moon, and she knew that her daughter would need her right now, and it killed Sam not to be there for her. Two days in the cell, two days without contact, except for mealtimes, and already she was so lonely that she felt she was reliving the days after Orlin's death.

Looking around the dark room, she couldn't believe that this was what had become of her life. She had had such high hopes, everything had seemed so achievable, and then it had happened. She'd been working on the Stargate project, a dream come true, and then came her family, another dream she'd achieved, and she had to wonder if this was where it was all going to come crashing down. Everything around her was different, jail cell aside. Just over a year ago, she'd been so happy. She'd had a husband, a family, a new job…it had all been too perfect. Something had been bound to ruin everything. She'd just never thought that something would be Jack.

Sam closed her eyes and this time, she didn't bother stopping her tears. She couldn't believe that he would betray her this way, a part of her still refused to believe that he had, but there was no other way to look at it. There was no one else that could have handed her over to the authorities; no one else knew she was here. She desperately wanted to believe that she could just close her eyes and when she opened them things wouldn't be as bad as they seemed; she wanted to believe that everything could be perfect again.

Over the years, there had been so many times when she would dream about meeting up with her friends, her family, the people she had been forced to leave behind. In her head, she lived the fantasy, the world where everything worked out okay, and everyone forgave her…almost everyone. It didn't matter how many times she'd imagine it, it was always the same; he would look at her with that burning betrayal in his eyes and he would just turn and walk away from her. After a while she had stopped dreaming.

And then it had happened for real. She had finally looked into his eyes again and, although things seemed to have happened pretty much the way she had expected, she was so sure there had been a spark of happiness in his eyes, even if it was only there for a few moments. Or maybe she had just imagined it. Either way, she guessed it didn't really matter. She was in a jail cell, and the only place she was likely to see Jack again was in a court room.

x x x x x x x

"No, don't you dare put me on ho…on hold again." Daniel grunted in frustration as the annoying music started again; panpipes were fast becoming the instrument he hated the most.

"Did they put you on hold again, sweetie?" Amy asked, frowning as she came into the room to find her husband sitting in silence again.

"Yes." Daniel sighed. "I've been at this for two days and I still don't know a damn thing. Yes, hello!" Daniel sat up straight as a voice came over the other end of the phone, greeting him with about as much warmth as the ice creatures of Hoth…and he really had to stop watching Star Wars with Teal'c when he came to visit. "Yes, I'm looking for information on Major Samantha Carter. She was brought in Thursday night about 3am."

"I'm sorry, sir, all information in that area is restricted to authorised personnel."

"I don't care about-"

Amy walked over to him. "Give me the phone, sweetie." Daniel passed the phone to his wife and she smiled warmly at him. Suddenly her smile disappeared. "No, you listen to me. I am not taking no for an answer. This is Major Amy Jackson, I'm posted at Cheyenne Mountain." There was a pause. "No, I don't want to hold while you to talk to your superior, if you can't do your job, then put me in touch with someone who can. Yes, that's fine. Okay. And what are the charges? Has anyone been in contact with her? General O'Neill just arrived?" Amy turned to Daniel, her face a mix of surprise and anger. It was the same look that was on Daniel's face. "No, its okay, I don't want to talk to him. Just make him aware that Major Carter will be receiving some visitors and it had better be authorized." Amy hung up the phone without giving the soldier at the other end the opportunity to answer and handed the phone back to Daniel.

"Jack's there?"

"Just arrived," Amy said icily. "What the hell does he think he's playing at?"

"I have no idea, but we still don't know what happened, Aimes." Daniel placed the phone back on the desk and stood up, pulling his wife into his arms. "For all we know, this could be a misunderstanding. We still don't know the details."

"Daniel, you may not be in the military, but you've been around it for long enough to know that Sam would have ended up in there at some point. She'll be up for a court martial, and there's nothing any of us can do about it."

"Yeah," Daniel said, resigned. "I know, but I guess I just never thought that Jack would be the one to put her there."

Amy looked up at him and kissed him lightly. "I'm sure that she didn't either."

x x x x x x x

**END OF PART THREE**


	4. Four

**What's Simple Is True**

**By Kyizi**

_**Disclaimer etc in chapter one**_

x x x x x x x

**Part Four**

x x x x x x x

Sam jumped awake as she heard footsteps in the hallway, rubbing her hands on the khaki trousers she had been given on arrival. She hadn't seen anyone since she had been taken to her cell, no one had been by to tell her anything, and, although she knew why she was there, she wanted everything clarified.

Light was streaming in through the windows, and Sam scrunched up her eyes, realising that she must have slept a lot longer than she had suspected. She stood up, her legs almost groaning in protest at the movement. Falling asleep in a foetal position had not been her wisest idea. As the footsteps got louder, Sam determined that there were four people coming towards her and, since she was sure that she was the only one in that area of the building, no doubt due to her knowledge of the Stargate program, she was confident that they were headed her way.

After a few moments, they arrived and Sam wasn't sure how to feel when she saw Jack standing directly in front of her. She knew she looked a mess, she could see it in his eyes. His face remained stoic, distant, but she could see in his eyes that he hated seeing her like that. She stood at attention, knowing that co-operation was her best option.

One of the soldiers opened her cell and she stood back a few paces as the group entered, and it wasn't until they were completely inside her cell that she became aware of exactly who was there. Jack had been the first person she had seen, and her focus had been completely on him, but now that she had spotted Colonel Frank Simmons, she suddenly felt very afraid for her safety.

"Major Carter," Simmons said with a smirk. His voice had that deceiving pleasantness that Sam had always despised about the man. "It's been a while."

"Not long enough," Sam muttered to herself, but as Simmons raised his eyebrows, she realized she hadn't said it as quietly as she had thought.

"Fourteen years is a long time to go without checking in on a mission, wouldn't you say, Major?" Sam frowned and glanced at her former CO, but he wouldn't meet her gaze. "Oh, it's all right, Major, I know all the specifics, General Hammond, made certain that you were covered." There was a definite hardness to Simmons' voice and Sam wondered exactly what he was talking about. Simmons moved closer to her, dropping his voice to a harsh whisper. "Listen to me, Major. I know you have no idea what I'm talking about, and I know that General Hammond wanted to make certain you'd get away with it, but trust me, I'm going to get you on something. And if I can't," he smiled sadistically, "then I'll just have to get your children on something. I'm sure there are a few tests that we could benefit from."

Sam balled her hands into fists at her side, trying desperately to keep them there. "You stay away from my children," she ground out.

Simmons smirked. "I will get you on something, Major Carter, and if it means using your children to do so, then trust me. I will." He stepped back and before Sam could say anything, he indicated the cell door. "You're free to go, Major."

Sam frowned and exited the cell, aware that Jack was following close behind her. He had yet to say a word and he hadn't even met her eyes. Part of her was screaming that it was because he had turned her in, but something even stronger was telling her that he had had nothing to do with it, she only hoped that wasn't wishful thinking on her part.

They made their way to the exit, stopping to check out. Sam almost laughed at that. Check out, as if she had been staying in a hotel for the night. The man behind the desk handed her a plastic bag, and Sam had a quick glance inside, noting that her nightshirt and dressing gown had been returned to her.

"General, there was a phone call regarding Major Carter."

"A phone call?" Jack and Sam replied in unison. They glanced briefly at each other, but neither said a word before turning back to face the Sergeant.

"Yes, Sir," the man replied, answering Jack rather than Sam. "A Major Amy Jackson said to inform you that Major Carter was to expect visitors."

Jack nodded sharply and turned to leave, not bothering to indicate to Sam that she was to follow. She did, however, follow, and soon found herself in the blinding light of the sun. She smiled as the warmth swept over her; she felt as though she had been locked in the Antarctic for the last few days. She glanced at Jack, remembering when they had done just that, but his gaze was focused as he pulled out his mobile phone. He unlocked the car and opened the door for her, but didn't look at her.

"Daniel, I've got her, you might as well turn back and go home." Sam almost wanted to cry at the detached tone he was using. He climbed into the driver's side of the car and slipped the keys in the ignition. "She's fine. Yes. No, Daniel. I'll talk to you later. No, don't put Amy on the – hi Amy. Yes. No. It wasn't me. Yes. I'll speak to you when we get there, Amy."

Sam couldn't help the slight laugh as Jack rolled his eyes, obviously getting his ears chewed off by his best friend's wife. He glanced at her and for a moment, as he caught her eyes and shook his head with a smile, it was almost as if nothing had happened at all. Jack seemed to realize this as well, and turned away.

"Look, Amy, I need both hands to drive, the sooner I can drive the sooner we get home. Yes, that is my way of telling you to shut up." He smiled. "Listen, how are her kids?" Sam turned to him again, grateful to him for asking, especially when she could hear the strain in his voice as he did. "Okay, I'll let her know. Yes, we'll be there soon. Bye."

Jack hung up the phone and placed in car charger. For a moment neither of them spoke, and Sam could almost feel the tension in the air. Finally, she turned to him to ask about her children, but he cut her off.

"Your kids are fine and Daniel told Amy to tell you that Liam was okay and nothing had happened."

Sam let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding and smiled gratefully at him. "Thank you."

Jack nodded but didn't reply. He turned and started the car, pulling quickly out of the car park, and Sam was not unhappy to see the building behind them disappear. She sighed and leaned back, allowing her eyes to close and, before long, she had drifted into an easy sleep, only slightly aware of Jack watching her in the mirror.

x x x x x x x

Sam jumped awake with a slight squeal. Her eyes looked around frantically as she tried to remember where she was.

"Sorry."

The voice worked more in bringing her back to reality than the surroundings did. She was with Jack, her former CO, and she was in his car heading toward Daniel's home and her children. She turned to Jack as he glanced in the rear view mirror.

"Pot holes," he explained. "The road was full of them. Trust me when I say that was the smoothest route."

She smiled slightly. "Of course I trust you, Jack." Sam almost wished she could take the words back. His face seemed to freeze over and he swung the steering wheel towards her, pulling them to the side of the road and stopping the car.

"You trust me?" he asked, turning to face her.

"I don't think this is the right tine, Jack." Sam tried not to look into his eyes, but she couldn't help herself, she never had been able to help herself. But there was something different in his eyes; something she had never seen before. He looked so…hurt and lost and betrayed and lonely and lots of other things that Sam had never wanted to see in his eyes.

"I think it's the perfect time, Carter." She wasn't sure why, but it hurt when he spat out her name that way. It hurt more that she had said Jack, and he had replied with Carter. "Why are you here?"

Sam knew that what he was really asking was, 'why did you leave?' and that made it difficult to answer. "Sir, I don't know how to…"

"I'm not your CO anymore, don't call me 'Sir'."

"Well, I'm not a Carter anymore, so don't…" Sam trailed off as her anger dissipated. Her eyes widened as he backed down, nodding his head. "Jack, I-"

"It's fine." He made a move to turn the key and start the car again, but she stopped him by placing her hand over his.

"Jack, please," Sam pleaded with him and finally he turned to look at her. Neither of them attempted to remove their hands and Sam suddenly felt as if she had been transported back in time. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before looking at him. She pulled back her hand and placed it in her lap, wringing her hands together. "I'm so sorry."

"For what? For leaving? For coming back? For thinking I turned you in?"

Her head shot up. "I-I didn't..."

"Yes, you did."

Sam nodded. "You're right, I did. At least part of me did. There was one part of me, the reasonable part, that was telling me that you were the only other person who knew I was back, so it had to have been you. But then there was this other part, and-and it was telling me that you'd never betray me, no matter how angry you were."

"I'm not angry, Sam."

She looked at him, a small smile on her face. "Yes, you are."

"Okay, so I'm a little angry, but that other part of you was right. I'd never betray you. I might think about it, sometimes, but I'd never do it."

"I know."

There was a small silence and she knew that Jack wanted the other explanations as well. He wanted to know why she had left them all, why she had left him. But Sam wasn't sure she was ready to give that explanation. She glanced at him and he nodded.

"Why did you come back?"

She smiled, grateful that he would wait for the other explanations, and took a deep breath. "My son."

"Liam?"

Sam nodded. "He was at school and a bully tried to hit him, but the boy's fist went right through Liam's head."

"Huh. That's…strange."

"Just a little." Sam sighed. "I knew the only people who could help me were here, I knew I had to face the consequences of what I did. But I would do anything for my son, and the SGC are the only people that can help him."

"What about…"

Sam's breath hitched in her throat as she thought of her husband. "Orlin died last March."

"Oh. I'm sorry."

"Thank you," Sam said, knowing that he really _was_ sorry that she had lost someone she loved.

"How did Liam take his new powers?"

Sam laughed, but there was no humour in it. "He hasn't spoken a word to anyone since."

"Did he know…?"

"About Orlin? No. We raised the kids as part of a normal family. No alien parents and no military ones either," she finished softly. "We thought it was for the best."

Jack nodded. "I know what you mean." There was a slight pause before Jack finally started the car again. "More explanations later, I think we should get you back to your kids."

Sam smiled. "Thank you, Jack."

Jack pulled out and continued to head in the direction of Daniel's house, but she heard his soft reply. "You're welcome, Sam."

x x x x x x x

The rest of the car journey was completed in silence, and despite the fact that she felt at ease with him now, Sam knew that Jack was still very hurt and very angry at her. The silence that had taken over the car was another one of those momentary lapses that they had been experiencing since her return. It was as if they kept falling back through time for brief moments, only to be brought into the present with a startling clarity. She had left them all with no explanation. She had left Jack and he was not about to forget that.

"We're here."

His voice shook her out of her reverie, and she turned and gave him a small smile before taking off her seatbelt and exiting the car. She closed over the door and headed straight to Daniel's front door, not even bothering to knock. She quickly made her way into the living room and smiled as she spotted Katie and her girls watching television. She stood in the doorway, leaning against the frame, just letting herself see that they were all right and that they were really right in front of her.

She felt Jack's presence behind her and she turned to look at him. He was looking at her daughters with a mixture of feelings that she couldn't even begin to comprehend; all she knew was that she suddenly felt a profound sadness in him.

"Momma!"

Sam turned as the twins came rushing toward her in a flurry of blond curls, quickly attaching themselves to her legs. She grinned broadly and disentangled them, kneeling down so that she could hug them tightly. She saw Katie launch herself at Jack, squealing at him and she exchanged a grin with him, once again falling through time.

"Momma, where were you?"

Sam pulled back, looking at her daughters' faces and smiling in what she hoped was a reassuring manner. "I was with an old friend for a couple of days."

Sarah frowned at her response. "That's what Uncle Daniel said."

"But Sarah said you wouldn't leave without saying goodbye."

"We thought you'd left to be with Daddy. He didn't say goodbye either."

Sam couldn't help the tears that fell from her eyes as she bit back a gasp. It hadn't even occurred to her that the girls would think that. It was true that Orlin hadn't seen the girls over the three days he was in hospital before his death, he hadn't wanted them to see him like that. He hadn't wanted his daughters' last memories of him to be like that; hooked up to all those machines, scarred and burnt and in no condition to breath or talk on his own. All his remaining energy had been used in a last ditch attempt to save himself, in trying to remain with his family. He had made himself human again. He had still died. She only wished the girls could have said goodbye.

"Oh, God, sweetie, no. I'm still here, and I'm not going anywhere." She pulled them into her arms tighter than she had held them before. She knew that Daniel and Amy were behind her; she had heard them approach. She thought Liam might be there as well, but she couldn't see and, despite her intense need to see her son and hold him, she couldn't see straight for the tears and was reluctant to let go of the girls.

"Well, you can blame me for keeping your mom away." Sam started as she heard Jack's voice, letting the girls pull back from her while she dried her eyes. He was crouched beside her, smiling at them. "I haven't seen your mom in a very long time, and we had a lot of catching up to do, so she came with me when I went on a trip for my work."

Sarah looked a little suspicious, but she seemed to let it slide, and Alice was more than willing to believe him, although that meant she was standing in her 'I'm-cross-with-you' stance. Sam bit back a smile as she wagged a finger at Jack.

"Next time you have to let us know where you're taking our Mommy."

Jack smiled and Sam could tell he was holding back his laughter, but he looked at Alice with an amazing sincerity. "I promise."

Alice broke out in a grin. "Good!" Jack laughed and she cocked her head to the side. "Who are you?"

"Alice!" Sam admonished. "Be polite."

Jack simply chuckled and held out his hand for her to shake. "My name's Jack."

"I'm Alice, but you can call me Ali. This is my sister, Sarah." Alice leaned forward as if to tell him a secret. "We're twins."

"That's good to know," Jack said with a nod, "I thought I was seeing double."

Alice giggled and gave him a shy hug before turning to Sarah who was regarding Jack curiously. Sam wondered what it was that was going on in her daughter's mind, but before she could question it, Sarah took a step closer to Jack.

"Do you work in a mountain?"

The question stunned her, and the look on her face must have clearly shown that, because Jack turned to look at her and seemed satisfied that she hadn't said anything. Sam leaned towards Sarah. "Sweetie, what makes you ask that?"

"Liam asked Daddy why you were sad once, and he said that your friend had a little boy and that you were sad because he had died. He said that his name was Jack and he used to work with you in the mountain."

Jack's face was awash with emotion and Sam wished she could take back what Sarah had said, but she took a deep breath and continued. "Daddy told you that Mommy worked in a mountain?" she asked, hoping that Orlin hadn't gone against her wishes behind her back. It was so difficult to argue with him now, she would feel guilty for being angry with him because he was dead, and he was no longer part of the arguments which meant he always won by default and Sam hated that.

"He said it in his head."

"What do you mean, sweetie?" Sam asked curiously.

"He said it in his head." Sarah tapped her head. "It used to make him sad because he couldn't make you happy sometimes. He thought that only Jack and Uncle Daniel and Auntie Janet could help."

"Sarah, sweetie," Sam said, taking a deep breath. She moved so that she was directly in front of her daughter. "Did your Daddy actually _say_ that to you?"

"No to me," Sarah said, shaking her head, "to himself. Up here."

Sam glanced at Jack and then up at Daniel and Amy. They all had the same look of shock on their faces as Sam was sure she had on hers. _I wish Dad were here, he'd know what to do, _she thought sadly. _Or Orlin, then I could shout at him and not feel guilty in the slightest._

"Sarah, do you mean you could hear what your daddy was thinking?"

Sarah nodded. "Ali thinks silly things all the time, but daddy had lots of thoughts and you do, too, but Daddy said I wasn't supposed to listen because it made you sad to think of the mountain."

"Daddy said that in his head?"

She shook her head. "No, he said when I asked him about the mountain."

Sam took a deep breath and stood up slowly, trying to stop her legs from buckling under her. "Excuse me," she said, but she didn't wait to see if anyone had heard her before walking quickly through the house and out the back door. She began pacing the grass.

"Sam."

"I don't want to talk about this, Daniel." She heard him sigh, but didn't look up from the ground, where she was watching the path she was tracing very carefully.

"Sam, I don't think-"

"He lied to me." She turned to face him, refusing to let go of the tears that were threatening to spill down her cheeks. "My husband lied to me about my children. How could he do that, Daniel? How could he _lie to me like that?_"

"I don't know, Sam…but if you think about it, do you?"

She shook her head and closed her eyes for a moment. "He knew I'd come back." She smiled sadly and looked at Daniel again. "He knew that if I found out about it, I'd want to bring the children here…where we could keep them safe."

"I think he wanted to make sure he didn't lose you."

"Orlin knew I loved him, Daniel."

He took a step towards her and pulled her into a brief hug. Pulling back and looking into her eyes he nodded. "I don't doubt that, Sam, but maybe he knew how much you loved this life…and the people in it. You said it yourself the other night, you said you couldn't count the number of times you almost came back to us. I think he was scared of losing you."

"He should have told me."

"I know."

x x x x x x x

**END OF PART FOUR**


	5. Five

**What's Simple Is True**

**By Kyizi**

_**Disclaimer etc in chapter one**_

x x x x x x x

**Part Five**

x x x x x x x

She ran a hand through her hair and closed the door behind her. Putting the girls to bed had been an ordeal. Sarah was looking at her with sad eyes and she wished she had been able to mask her anger and hurt at Orlin's betrayal, but she didn't think she had been successful. Sarah was the most sensitive of her children and she supposed, given her recent discovery, she could understand why.

She glanced behind her as she heard Amy exiting the room and turned to face her. She took a deep breath and couldn't stop letting out a small chuckle as the small woman hugged her impulsively.

"Thanks," she said, "I think I needed that."

"I can understand why," Amy said ruefully. "I think I can safely say you've just had the strangest day in the history of…well, ever." Sam laughed softly as the small brunette continued. "I think the award's in the bag for this one."

"I don't think it'd make a very good movie; no one would ever believe it."

"That's true." Amy's smile slowly faded. "Have you spoken to Liam yet?"

Sam shook her head. "He was pretending to be asleep when I got back and continued to do so every time I went into the room. Thank you for having us," she added quickly. "I keep meaning to say it and something keeps getting in the way."

"It's not a problem. I don't think I've seen Daniel this content with his life since you left." When Sam opened her mouth to object, Amy raised a hand to quiet her. "Don't get me wrong, I know that Daniel's happy with me and I know he wouldn't give this family up for anything in the world, not even his friendships, but…but you're a part of him and, without you here, he's not complete."

"He's a part of me, too. Is it wrong that I sometimes wish I had never left?"

Amy shook her head. "Not in the slightest. Daniel's family and you need him. You've lived fourteen years without him, that's a long time. I think I'd be upset if you hadn't wished it at least a million times because I know Daniel has."

Sam smiled. "You're good for him, you know. He needs someone like you; someone who can drag him away from hours of research and keep him on this planet. I mean, not literally, but-"

"I know what you mean," Amy replied, laughing. "We both frequent other planets."

They grinned at the absurdity of it all before Sam sobered and glanced down the hallway to the Jacksons' spare bedroom. She needed to speak to her son; she needed him to speak to her. Nothing in her life made sense any more and she needed him. It was selfish of her to need him so much when he was the one who needed his mother beside him, but her children were all she had left and that scared her.

"Jack's in there with him."

Sam frowned. "He is?"

Amy nodded. "You should go and speak to him."

She didn't ask which 'him' Amy meant, because she knew she had to speak to both of them at some point. Liam, however, was her primary concern, so she didn't even acknowledge the other option.

"What if he's not ready to speak to me, Amy? I've been lying to him his whole life and I don't know how to fix that."

"By wanting to. I think that's a good a place as any to start."

Sam nodded. She said good night to Amy and walked to the other end of the darkened hallway. Pausing for a moment to collect herself, she frowned when she realised she could hear the murmur of voices through the door. Pushing it open slightly, she entered the room slowly, her eyes landing on the hunched forms of her son and her former CO as they sat on the bed playing computer games.

"I gonna to get you this time," Jack said with a laugh, his whole upper body twisting as he worked with the control panel.

"No way, old man, you're going down!"

"Hey, who you callin' old, kiddo!"

Liam laughed and Sam felt a real smile on her face; her first real smile in what felt like forever. "Hah!" he cried suddenly and Sam jumped, "I won!"

"You may have won the battle, buddy," Jack said with a grin, "but the war's not over yet."

"You'll never beat me; I've had loads of practice. I used to kick my dad's butt all the time. He sucked at computers." Liam stood up, waving his fists in the air in victory, his gaze eventually falling on his mother. Sam smiled a little and only prayed that he wouldn't go back into his shell. She wasn't quite sure what Jack had done to get him to talk at all, let alone behave like the twelve year old boy he was, but she didn't really care, only that she would be eternally grateful to him.

She could feel Jack's gaze on her as he turned around, but her focus was Liam. She needed her son back. After a moment, the boy crossed to the room to stand in front of her. He continued to look at her for a while before throwing his arms around her, mumbling, "I'm sorry, Mom."

"That's okay, sweetie," Sam said, wrapping her arms around him tightly. "I'm sorry, too; for everything, but mostly for lying to you."

"You'll tell me everything now, though, right?"

She took a deep breath, but nodded. "Yeah, I will." She glanced across the room and finally let her gaze settle on Jack. "Thank you," she mouthed. Jack nodded and placed the computer consol on the bed, before passing by and exiting the room. She knew that things were not all right between them, but that was another apology for another day; it was one she had no idea how to make, because nothing quite seemed like enough.

"Mom?"

She looked down at her son and smiled. "Yeah?"

"When you told me stuff the other day, did you mean it all?"

"Yeah, I did."

"So Dad was really an alien?"

Sam nodded. " 'fraid so, kid."

He took a moment to think about that. "Cool."

x x x x x x x

Sam groaned and rolled onto her side, squealing as she toppled to the floor. She growled and sat up, running her hands through her hair and pulling it back into a ponytail with the band that she kept around her wrist. She glared at the sofa-bed as she hauled herself to her feet.

"Momma, why are you on the floor?"

She turned to the doorway and narrowed her eyes, smiling at her girls. "My bed shrunk on me last night and I fell off the end."

They giggled and Alice ran towards her, veering off at the last minute to launch herself onto the fold-out bed Sam had been sleeping on. She began to bounce up and down and give the sofa-bed a telling off for throwing her mom on the floor. Sam laughed and Sarah giggled before joining her sister.

"Okay, enough," Sam said with a laugh, catching Alice mid-air and turning her upside down, much to the girls' amusement. "Before someone gets hurt."

"Auntie Amy said you had to stop being lazy and come get pancakes," Sarah informed her as she carefully lowered herself to the floor.

"I'm not lazy."

"Yes, you are," Alice said, squealing when her mother began to move her up and down. "Stop!"

Sam chuckled, turning her up the right way and setting her on her feet. Alice took a few steps, but was clearly still a bit disoriented as she promptly fell on her bottom.

"Ali's drunk!"

"Alice Cassandra Walker, have you been drinking?" Sam demanded, trying not to smile.

"No!"

Sarah giggled. "Yes, she has!"

"Have not!"

"Have too!"

"Have not!"

"Too!"

"Not!"

"Okay, enough. Go downstairs and I'll be there in a minute."

"Race you!" Sarah screamed, running out the door.

Alice scrambled to her feet, screaming, "Not fair!" and ran after her sister. There was laughter from the hallway and a few moments later Daniel appeared at the door.

"And I thought _my_ family was insane."

"Your family _is_ insane," Sam said with a smile.

"Yeah, I know."

They grinned at each other, before Daniel entered the room, perching on the end of her makeshift bed. "Cassandra?" he asked a moment later and she frowned.

It took her a minute to realise what he was referring to, but when she ran through her conversation with the girls again, she got it. She smiled and sat down next to him.

"I guess I couldn't forget you guys completely."

"Glad to hear it," he smiled. "Do they all…" he trailed off, shrugging his shoulders and she smiled.

"Alice Cassandra, Sarah Janet, and Liam Daniel."

Daniel's eyebrows rose in a gesture that reminded her so completely of Teal'c that she suddenly felt a sudden surge of longing to see her old friend again. "You named your son after me?"

"Of course I did."

"Great minds, I guess," he said with a smile and she frowned. Standing, he helped her get to her feet and then headed for the door. "Ask Katie what her full name is, sometime," he said with a wink.

She smiled and made to follow him downstairs, intending to get him to just tell her himself. However, she caught a glance at herself in the mirror and quickly decided it might be a better idea to shower and change out of her pyjamas first.

Sam entered the kitchen about ten minutes later to find the place was complete pandemonium. She laughed as she spotted Liam and Amy throwing small pieces of pancake at each other, whilst Daniel was attempting to flip pancakes in the air, much to the delight of the three girls crowding his legs. He was failing miserably, which was also much to their amusement.

"Sam," Daniel said in surprise, catching sight of her. Unfortunately, he turned slightly to look at her and, given that he had just tossed a pancake in the air, was unable to do anything as it landed on his head and dripped uncooked batter onto his shoulder.

There was a brief silence before Liam snorted, unable to contain his laughter, and everyone began to laugh at the glaring archaeologist. The sight of Daniel trying to pick the gooey lumps of batter from his hair was too much and Sam had to hold onto her side with one hand and the doorframe with the other. It had been a long time since she had really laughed and now that she had started, she found herself unable to stop.

After a quick cleanup (and, in Daniel's case, a quick shower), they were soon seated at the table making the pile of pancakes in the centre rapidly disappear. The chatter was loud and Sam eventually found herself sitting back in her chair just watching her children interact with Daniel and his family. She had never thought she would ever see this. It wasn't just seeing Daniel again and having them all just _fit_, but she had never really thought she'd see her children acting like part of a family again. It almost brought tears to her eyes.

"Where did Jack go?" Liam asked suddenly and Sam jumped, glancing around the table, despite the fact that she already knew he wasn't there.

"He had to go into work this morning, so he left late last night," Daniel said.

Sam hadn't known that, but then she had fallen asleep in Liam's room, not moving herself until her neck had protested so loudly at the uncomfortable position it had been forced into and the pain had woken her up. At that point, she had simply made her way into Katie's playroom, where she had been told she was sleeping, to find a bed already made out.

"Will we see him again today?" her son asked and she smiled. She didn't even try to hide the fact that it made her happy to see Liam and Jack getting along. It was important to her and she didn't feel the need dwell on why that was. It was just something she needed.

"Eh…yeah." Daniel glanced over at her and she frowned. "He wants us to take Liam into the base today. Says he has a few ideas where to start."

Sam nodded. "Okay," she said, keeping the smile on her face. She knew Daniel could see right through it and, given the frown Sarah was sending her way, he wasn't the only one. Luckily no one called her on it.

She had known from the moment she set foot on the plane that she would have to enter the mountain. In fact it was the _reason_ she had got on the plane in the first place. However, being faced with it was another thing altogether.

Suddenly, Sam wasn't so sure that she was strong enough to handle this after all.

x x x x x x x

"Sam?"

She jumped and turned to face Daniel, smiling instantly. "I'm fine, Daniel," she said for what had to be the fifteenth time since they'd entered the car. He gave her a look that told her he didn't believe it for a second and she suddenly grinned, surprising him. She laughed and placed a hand on his knee as he returned his gaze to the road.

"What?" he asked and she shook her head, shrugging at him.

"I've just _really_ missed you, Daniel."

Smiling at her briefly, he placed his hand over hers and squeezed it. "I've missed you, too, Sam."

"Mom?"

Sam turned and glanced into the back seat. "Yeah?"

Her son frowned at her. "Can Sarah _really_ read my mind?"

Sam groaned and closed her eyes. "I have no idea, Liam," she said softly, letting out a deflated breath, "I really don't."

"What about Ali?"

"God, I didn't even think of that." She turned to look at Daniel and he shook his head.

"Don't. There's no point in creating more problems. Let's take this one thing at a time. We'll figure out what's going on, Sam, don't worry about it."

Liam snorted and she turned back around. "What?" When he was silent, she gave him the look that quite clearly stated that he had better tell her what was going on in his head, or else, young man.

"Is your name really Sam?" he asked, looking as if he thought the idea was hilarious.

"There's nothing wrong with my name!"

"Sam's a boy's name."

"It's Samantha, if you must know, but there's nothing wrong with Sam."

Liam shrugged. "It's just a bit weird. And why did Jack call you Carter when we were playing video games last night?"

She smiled sadly before shaking her head and replying. "Because my name is Samantha Carter. Do you remember I told you that the Col- sorry, Jack, was my Commanding Officer?" Liam nodded and she smiled. "Well, he always called me by my rank or my last name."

"I still can't believe you're in the army, that's so cool."

"I am _not_ in the _army_, young man. I am Air Force, thank you very much." She frowned. "Well, I was. I don't think I am any more." She tried to smile as she took her seat again, but she was sure it was more of a grimace. She muttered something that sounded a lot like 'dishonourably discharged' and Daniel reached out to squeeze her hand again.

She had _really_ missed him.

x x x x x x x

"Mom," Liam asked, eyeing her warily. "Why did that man look like he'd seen a ghost?"

"Siler always looks like that," Daniel said with a smile and Sam rolled her eyes.

"I told you, Liam," she said, "I just kind of…left."

"Did everyone think you were dead, or something?"

Sam's eyes widened and she turned sharply to look at Daniel, who shook his head. Whether the gesture was meant to say 'no' or 'not now', however, she wasn't sure. She also wasn't sure she wanted to know.

"Major Carter?"

She glanced to her left and couldn't help but smile at Major Davis, or rather, Colonel Davis, as she had been informed the night before. He spluttered a little before shaking his head and smiling at her.

"It's good to see you, Sam," he said softly, surprising both her and Daniel. She hadn't heard him use that tone of voice since they had worked together at the Pentagon. She glanced briefly at Daniel and realised that she never really had told the others about her life before the SGC.

"It's good to see you, too, Paul," she said, surprising them all further by stepping forward and pulling him into a brief hug.

He chuckled and hugged her back. "So," he said when she pulled away. "You're back?"

"Eh, it's…complicated," she said closing her eyes. "Sorry, this is my son, Liam. Liam, this is Major – sorry – _Colonel_ Paul Davis. We used to work together at the Pentagon."

"Hi," Liam said briefly, before turning back to Sam. "You worked at the Pentagon?" he asked, suddenly looking at her wide-eyed.

"Did I forget to mention that bit?" she asked, biting her lip and Liam nodded.

"Your mom's a pretty smart woman," Paul said with a laugh and Sam rolled her eyes. Her old friend had hidden his surprise about Liam rather quickly and she was grateful. There were going to be enough awkward moments today without adding to them.

She smiled at Paul and frowned a little. When she had transferred to the SGC, they had never really spoken much and when they had they had never really acknowledged the friendship they had basically abandoned. It wasn't as if they had ever spent a lot of their down time together when they worked at the Pentagon, so it wasn't much of a change in that respect, but they had been quite close within their work environment. Her sudden shift into the dynamic that was SG1 had been so complete that she had never really had a space that she could identify with the loss of that friendship and she had never really given much thought to it after that. Looking at him now, however, Sam realised that she did miss it. She supposed that nearly fourteen years hiding from her old life made her focus on _everything_ she had left behind. Even the people she had moved on from before that.

"Excuse me…Major Carter?" She jumped and turned to find Walter staring at her a little unsurely and she smiled at him, instantly making him relax. "General O'Neill and General Tigh are waiting for you in the briefing room."

"I assume everything is still in the same place?" she asked and they all nodded. "Then I guess it's time to get things sorted." She turned to Liam and pulled him against her side, surprised that he actually let her. He tended to think he was too old for hugging his mom in a public place. "You ready Liam?"

"I guess." He frowned. "They're not going to do tests, or anything, are they?"

"No."

Her answer brokered no room for discussion and she felt Liam's shoulders relax beneath her arm, hiding a smile when he shrugged away from her a moment later. He smiled up at her, but his look clearly stated that he was not to be treated like a child when they were in public. Not that the SGC could exactly be considered public, but the sentiment remained.

Also, she supposed, it had something to do with the fact that they were in a military base. She smiled when she realised that, now that her secret was out in the open, she was free to start openly dissuading Liam from his lifetime dream of joining the Marine Corps and start steering him rightfully towards the Air Force. It was only right, after all. The Air Force was the Carter family tradition and, now that Liam knew he was a Carter (by blood if not in name), it was his turn to decide if he wanted to carry on that tradition.

"Sam?"

She blinked and smiled, shaking her head as she realised she had been lost in her thoughts once more. "Sorry," she said softly and followed Paul and Daniel through the once familiar corridors. Walter, it seemed, had already left them.

"It's a lot to come back to, huh?" Daniel asked and she gave him a look that asked 'ya think?' in a voice that was basically Jack's.

"So, I hear you head up SG2 now," she said, drawing Paul into the conversation.

The man smiled instantly and nodded so enthusiastically that even Daniel was surprised. "Years of watching you guys do it never really did it justice."

"I guess not," Sam said with a smile. "I thought you were happier sitting on the sidelines," she said, drawing a chuckle from him.

"So did I." He shrugged. "It's a long story." He glanced at Liam and grinned as they approached the briefing room. "And I guess I'm not the only one with one of those."

"You have no idea."

He winked at her. "You'll have to fill me in sometime. Anyway, I'm due to go off world in about two hours, so I've got to go." He made a move to leave them before stopping and regarding her seriously. "I'm really glad you're okay, Sam. It's good to see you."

"It's good to be seen," she said and he laughed. "I'll see you later?"

"Count on it. It was nice to meet you Liam."

"You, too," Liam said politely, although Sam could tell he was rather overwhelmed by the whole thing. She waved slightly as her old friend walked away and quickly turned the corner towards the locker room.

"I had no idea you guys were close," Daniel said and she turned to face him.

"It was a long time ago. I guess I kind of abandoned him when I came to the SGC. I was so focussed on fitting in here that I just sort of…forgot about everyone I left behind." She shrugged. "When he started liaising with the SGC, I guess he found it easier to move on than to bring it all up. I think I did, too."

The door behind Daniel opened and Jack entered the hallway raising his eyebrows in a way that quite clearly stated that standing in the hallway wasn't the plan for the day.

"Hey Jack!" Liam almost shouted.

Sam smiled fondly at her son and suddenly realised that, even though he'd only met Jack the day before, the familiarity of seeing someone he could actually identify was what he needed to make him more at ease. It couldn't be easy finding out that your parents had a completely different life before you were born. Most children didn't really believe their parent's _had lives_, but Sam figured it was more difficult being faced with it when those lives were literally out of this world.

"Hey, kid. So…Carter…are we standing in the hallway all day, or would you rather bring this inside?"

She smiled and nodded. "Inside might be better."

"Ya think?" He turned around and led the way. "Besides, there are a few people who'd like to see you."

Sam frowned, ushering Liam into the room. When she entered, she instantly spotted the man she assumed was General Tigh. A further glance around the room and she almost forgot how to breathe. She barely noticed that she had stopped walking, barely noticed that Daniel had to gently nudge her further into the room so that he could enter and close the door, she barely even noticed the silence.

She frowned, her eyes filling with tears as she spotted Teal'c, Janet, and Cassie. But it wasn't them that had her frozen to the spot. She had expected to see them at some point. But she hadn't expected anyone else…especially him.

"Dad?"

It was barely a whisper, but it was enough to spur the man into motion. He crossed the room, freezing in front of her before cupping her face and staring at her almost reverently, almost as if he wasn't sure that he believed she was real.

"Hey, Sammy," he whispered, his mouth quirking briefly into a smile and that was all it took.

She wrapped her arms tightly around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder. She didn't even care that he was crushing her ribs as he held her to him. It was the one thing she had wanted for nearly fourteen years. It was the one thing that she had missed most of all, mainly because she had only just got used to having it in her life just before she left.

"God, I missed you, kid."

"I missed you, too, Dad," she said, hiccoughing into his shoulder. "You have no idea how much I've missed you."

Suddenly, the idea that everything was going to be all right didn't seem so far fetched after all.

x x x x x x x

**END OF PART FIVE**


	6. Six

**What's Simple Is True**

**By Kyizi**

_**Disclaimer etc in chapter one**_

**Please note that previous chapters have been edited, but the content remains essentially the same. Apologies for the delay with this one, it's been sitting on my computer needing a final facelift for far too long. I hope you enjoy. (Further note posted in the edited chapter one)**

x x x x x x x

**Part Six**

x x x x x x x

By the time she was beginning to relax in her surroundings, Sam already felt drained. With her father's presence setting her off, she had been unable to restrain herself when faced with Janet, Cassie, and even Teal'c. Much to the Jaffa's surprise, she had hugged him tightly.

Stepping away from her friends, she turned and crossed the room to her son, not quite sure how to handle the next part. She leaned down, although, much to her irritation, not very far – Liam had almost been as tall as her since he turned ten – and smiled reassuringly at him.

"You okay?" she asked and he nodded. "This is all bit much, isn't it?"

Liam shrugged and continued to look over her shoulder. She turned her head and caught her dad's gaze. Taking a deep breath, she stood up straight and closed her eyes momentarily, before placing her hands on Liam's shoulders.

"There's someone I want you to meet, Liam."

"You called that man 'Dad'," he said softly and Sam nodded.

"Yeah, I did."

"That's your dad?"

"Yeah, that's my dad," Sam said, smiling and glancing at her father. "Wanna meet him?"

"Okay."

She placed one of her hands on his back and walked with him, glad that the others had congregated at the other side of the briefing table and were conversing softly to give them some privacy. Jack was watching them over the top of Janet's head, but she found that she didn't mind. In fact, it gave her a little more confidence.

"Hey, Dad, there's someone I'd like you to meet." It was clear to Sam that her father already knew all about Liam, well as much as she had told Jack and Daniel at least, but had already decided that it was best for her son if she handled this first introduction properly. "Dad, this is my son, Liam. Liam, this is my dad."

"Hi," Liam said softly, smiling nervously.

"Hey there." Her father cleared his throat and glanced at Sam, not really sure what to do next, but he didn't have to wonder long. Liam frowned and pursed his lips in a manner that she was very familiar with.

"What do you want to know?" she asked in a tone that made it clear that she was waiting for a list of questions.

Liam, however, didn't direct his questions at Sam, but at her father. "If you're Mom's dad, does that mean you're my...?" he trailed off, clearly unsure as to how to address the older man.

"I'm your grandfather."

"I never had one of those before," Liam said and they both chuckled at the way he seemed to address it as if a grandfather were someone one acquired at birthdays and Christmases.

"What…em…"

"Whatever it is, Liam, you can just ask," Sam said softly and Liam nodded.

"What do I call you?"

"Well, your cousins call me Grampa, so I guess you could call me that. If you wanted."

"I have cousins?" Liam asked, surprised.

His grandfather nodded. "Five."

"Five!" Sam exclaimed loudly. Everyone turned to look at her and she shook her head. "I guess Mark's been busy the last fourteen years."

They all laughed and moved to take their seats as her father smiled sadly at her. "So have you," he said and she nodded, looking away. She steered Liam into one of the chairs, smiling as he looked up at her father. It was clear that he wanted to sit next to his grandfather.

Sam turned to find herself faced with General Tigh, who quickly introduced himself and indicated that she should sit. She wasn't quite sure how to act around the man, she wasn't sure what he had been told about her, or what he intended to do about her sudden reappearance. She only hoped he would help her figure out what was happening with her children. Both Daniel and Amy liked and trusted the man, but she hadn't had the chance to speak to Jack yet. She wasn't really sure she was ready to talk to him, but she knew it was coming.

She took a seat on Liam's other side, smiling when she saw that he was talking quietly to her father. She pulled her chair in, suddenly realising that it was the same one she had spent so many years sitting in. She took in a deep breath as the familiarity hit her and glanced up to find Jack looking at her. It was clear he was thinking the same thing she was; if she ignored everything else it was almost as if it was just another day, just another briefing, another mission, another planet to explore.

But then General Tigh cleared his throat and the loss of Hammond hit her. It wasn't the same and it never would be again. And that, she knew, was all her fault.

"I guess we should get started," Tigh began. "I think you all know why we're here. General Hammond and I spoke about this a long time ago, when he was preparing to step down from his position running this facility. Not that he knew I was going to get left with the place," he said wryly and she smiled as Jack shrugged.

"It was a gift I was quite happy to return."

"Shame you didn't return it in tact," Tigh muttered and Jack winced.

Sam glanced at Daniel for an explanation, but he chuckled and shook his head. He would tell her later, no doubt.

"I believe congratulations are in order for completing your mission, Major Carter," Tigh continued and the tone of his voice made it quite clear that he was well aware of the fact that there had been no mission. How he felt about that, however, was still a mystery to her. There was a lot about the entire situation, in fact, that was still a complete mystery to her.

"Eh…thank you, Sir," she said, struggling with a smile.

"Well, perhaps you can tell us more about what prompted your return, Major."

Feeling slightly thrown by the fact that, fourteen years down the line, she was suddenly being addressed by her rank again, she stumbled through her thoughts. She glanced around the room, feeling somewhat as if she was on trial. She jumped when she felt something grab her hand, relaxing when she realised that Liam had taken hold of it. She smiled at him and squeezed his hand.

"Right," she said, taking a deep breath. She tried to detach herself from the situation and treat it as just another debrief, but she couldn't. This was about her son and these people were her family.

"I'm not really sure where to begin," she said, feeling as if she owed them all a full explanation. However, with Tigh in the room having just congratulated her on her 'mission', she was unable to do that just yet. "It never occurred to me that Liam or the girls might have…unusual abilities, but it seems…" she trailed off.

Jack was smirking at her, as was her father. Daniel quickly turned a chuckle into a cough and both Janet and Cassie were regarding her with amusement.

"What?" she asked, directing her question towards Teal'c, knowing that he was the most likely person to give her a straight answer.

"I believe they are intrigued by the change in your vocals, Major Carter."

"The what?"

Jacob chuckled. "That's quite a twang you've picked up, Sammy."

"I do _not_ have a twang."

"Of course not," Jack said mildly, but he didn't stop smiling.

"Daniel, tell them I don't have a twang. I've spent a lot of time with you since I got back!"

"Yes, yes, you have," Daniel said, pushing his glasses further up his nose. His lips twitched. "A lot of time that my lovely wife had to keep reminding me that you can probably kill me with your bare hands should I even think of bringing it up."

Sam's jaw dropped at the chuckles emanating from the rest of the table. Even Teal'c looked amused.

"There is nothing different with my voice."

Liam groaned. "Please don't get her started. Aunt Terri mentioned her accent once and that argument lasted about four hours."

"You're exaggerating, Liam."

"It didn't stop 'til Dad said he was going to poke his eyes out with his fork."

Despite the laughter that followed Liam's statement, the sudden mention of Orlin seemed to sober everyone up. Given the fact that it was now on the table, so to speak, General Tigh seemed to have no further qualms just asking straight out.

"So, I take it your alien husband has passed on some interesting traits to your children, Major Carter," he prompted. "Perhaps you could fill us in a little more."

Before she was able to decipher the tone of his voice, Liam sneezed…and, in a flash of light, completely disappeared.

x x x x x x x

Sam paced the infirmary floor, counting her steps as she moved. Her internal counting did nothing to deter her brain, which was simultaneously trying to remember and analyse every time Orlin had made them invisible and running – on a loop – that terrifying moment in the briefing room where her son had disappeared right in front of her.

As if needing to reaffirm the fact that he had reappeared moments later, she glanced over at the bed where Liam was currently having his entire body scanned by Janet, who was waving a small alien device over him. Liam seemed more fascinated by the three dimensional holographic projection of his insides than worrying about the fact that his mother was freaking out less than five feet away from him.

"Sam?"

"Ninety four."

"What?"

She shook her head and turned to face her father. "Sorry, Dad," she said, ignoring the fact that Jack, who was standing next to him, was chuckling softly to himself. The look in her former CO's eyes clearly stated that he knew what she had been doing with each step, even if it hadn't registered with her until she'd spoken.

"You okay?"

"I'm fine," she said, nodding emphatically.

"Sure ya are, Carter."

She sent Jack a withering stare, but he just grinned at her. Just like old times. Except that it wasn't. Her husband was dead, everything had changed, she wasn't sure if Jack would keep on speaking to her (because she knew he was still angry with her and they would have to address that at some point), Cassie was an adult who was sitting on the bed to her left playing with a _wedding_ ring, Teal'c had _hair_, and, oh, yeah, her children were disappearing and reading people's minds.

Maybe she wasn't okay, after all.

"I need to sit," she said and Cassie patted the bed next to her. She sat down and took a deep breath, smiling when she felt the young woman leaning against her shoulder. She looked down at the top of the girl's head and could almost believe Cassie was still the teenager she remembered. "I can't believe you're all grown up," she said softly and the younger woman sat up again.

"Well," Cassie said softly, "that's what happens when you run out on us." There was no malice or anger in Cassie's voice and, somehow, that made her words hurt so much more.

"I…I didn't want to leave you all, Cass," Sam said, her eyes beginning to nip when she saw the tears streaking down Cassie's face. "I missed you so much." She reached up and pulled on the younger woman's short hair.

"I missed you, too, Sam, but…I don't understand why you left…I mean…I do, but then I think about it and I just don't get it."

"Sometimes I don't either."

"You just _left_, Sam. You didn't even say goodbye. I was thirteen years old and you just left and I didn't know why or if you were coming back or…I thought you were dead and Mom just didn't want to tell me. I'm not saying this to upset you, Sam, I just…I guess I want to know _why_. Surely we deserve that much."

"You do, of course you do, I just…I'm not sure I can…"

"Sam?"

Janet's voice made them all jump. The look in Sam's eyes made it clear to Cassie that she would get an explanation at some point and the young woman nodded, taking hold of Sam's hand. She squeezed it softly, as they turned to Janet.

"Is everything okay?" Sam asked, almost fearfully.

"Well, the initial scans confirm that everything's fine. Liam's just an ordinary twelve year old boy."

"Ordinary twelve year old boys don't vanish when they sneeze, Doc," Jack said dryly and Janet frowned at him.

"I'm well aware of that General, however, I wasn't finished. I've done basic scans to make sure that there's nothing actually _wrong_," Janet continued. "Whatever it is that's causing this…ability to surface now, isn't damaging his health in the process. Liam's genetic makeup is part alien, all we need to do is isolate what's causing this and figure out if there's a way to control it."

"Am I sick?"

They all jumped at the sound of Liam's voice. He appeared from behind Janet and made his way to Sam, allowing her to pull him into the circle of her arms. They both looked up at Janet and, despite the fact that Liam looked so much like his father, the identical expressions on their faces made it clear that Liam was very much like his mother.

"No, Liam," Janet said, smiling, "you're not sick. You're just…different."

"Like my dad?"

"Yes, like your dad."

"Okay. I can handle that."

Sam smiled and brushed his hair back from his forehead. Liam wasn't sick and he didn't appear to be in any immediate danger.

"So, what do we do now?" Sam asked, glancing at each of them in turn.

"Well, I'd like to run a few more tests, nothing invasive," Janet hurried to explain, clearly trying to stave off any protests. "We've been doing some trading with the Asgard over the last few years, so we have access to better medical technology, and there are a few things I'd like to check up on. To be honest, I think this is a natural development in Liam's case. I think his body just reached that point where it's trying to 'grow up'. His voice is going to break, he'll have a growth spurt; he's going through the natural progression of any teenage boy. The difference is that he is part alien and that part is going to assert itself at this stage as well."

Liam frowned. "What about Sarah?" he asked, not seeing the look in his mother's eyes, or noticing that both Daniel and Jack were trying to get him to stop talking. They'd discussed things the previous evening, albeit briefly, and come to the conclusion that they should deal with one thing at a time and had decided not to mention that Sarah was also developing other abilities.

"Sarah?" Janet asked.

"My sister."

"I don't think we need to go into that now, Liam," Sam said, but by this point she could already tell that Janet wasn't going to let her leave the room without an explanation. If there was one thing that would never change, Sam surmised, it was that, when Janet gave you that _look_, you did what you were told.

"Sam," Janet prompted.

She glanced at Daniel, who smiled and said, "It might help Janet figure this out if she has all the facts."

Turning to look at Jack, she silently begged him to make the decision for her; to take the decision out of her hands and order her to tell them everything. But he didn't. Jack shrugged his shoulders and didn't say anything. He didn't have to; she knew what he was thinking just by looking at him. It was up to her and whatever she decided to do was the right decision.

Sighing, Sam leaned her head against the back of Liam shoulder for a moment, almost as if she was drawing strength from him, before sitting up straight again.

"Okay," she said, pulling her son closer and, despite his usual protestations, he seemed to understand that she needed him. He leaned back so that he was almost sitting next to her on the bed, Cassie still leaning on her other side. And, surrounded by her family, Sam finally began to tell her story.

x x x x x x x

"You did this."

Jack spun on his heels to find her leaning against his doorway. Her hands were in the pockets of her jeans and she offered him a small smile.

His lips twitched. "That an accusation?"

"It's an 'I can't believe you did this' and…and it's a thank you. You got them all here, after everything…you brought my dad, and I just… Thank you."

He shrugged it off, as she knew he would, but she crossed the room and placed a hand on his arm.

"Please, Jack, don't pretend this is nothing. It's not nothing." She smiled sadly at him, wishing she could make him understand, wishing that her explanation earlier had been enough to make up for everything, despite knowing that nothing ever could. She'd been brief in her details, focussing mainly on her children, giving Janet every small detail that could help her figure this out.

"Carter?"

She jumped on instinct, blinked and replied, "Sorry, Sir," as if she was on autopilot. Rather than making him angry again, however, she realised that there was a smile playing at his lips. She'd missed that. "Jack, I…" she trailed off, trying to figure out the change in his expression. She didn't have to wait long.

"You used to find that…impossible."

She didn't need to ask what he was referring to, but it was enough to make her pull back her hand. She looked down and shifted a little on her feet. Shaking her head she looked up at him again and she hated that there were tears in her eyes.

"I didn't want this, you know. I never meant for," she waved her arms around in a gesture meant to encompass, well, everything. "I never meant for any of this. You know, I spent so many years just thinking about how much I missed you…all of you and…" She closed her eyes, knowing that what she was about to say was breaking so many of their self-made rules on the subject, one that already had too many actual rules, but she found that she didn't really care. She had to make him understand.

"I need you to know that you weren't just Colonel O'Neil to me," she whispered, speaking so quietly he almost missed it. He nodded, but didn't speak. "I thought about you – all of you – every single day. I just…I missed you all so much. I didn't just miss you as my CO…_Sir._" The twitch of his lips was contagious and she found herself smiling back without even having to try. "I think I missed the other part of you more, the side of you that I never really got to see because I wasn't allowed to. I missed _Jack_, too. I'm not sure if realising that made things easier or more difficult, but…I can stop if you'd prefer-"

"No," he said quickly. "No, I just…it surprised me is all."

She laughed, but there was little humour in the sound. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes, only to find them snapping open again a moment later. She didn't move, barely breathed as she stared back at him, part of her wishing he'd remove his hands and stop trailing them up and down her arms. The rest of her, however, just wanted to take the comfort he was offering, not sure if she'd ever be in the position to accept it again…not sure if, when this was all over, he'd even speak to her again.

"We're not okay, Carter," he said, as if reading her mind. "But I'm not stupid enough to think that I'll be able to keep this up for long." As if he could sense her preparing to pull away, he strengthened his grip on her arms until she looked directly at him. "I never could stay mad at you long," he clarified.

The tension left her body almost instantly. She inhaled deeply and let her head fall forward and allowed him to pull her a little closer until the top of her head was resting on his chest. She curled her hands around his wrists, stilling their motion, and just holding on.

"Thank you," she said and, somehow, that was more than enough.

"Just…do me a favour."

"Anything." Sam lifted her head and looked straight into his eyes, almost surprised by how close they were standing.

"Tell your kid to stay out of my mind."

She laughed, the sound seeming foreign even to her. "I already told her not to go exploring; she might get lost in there."

"Insulting a superior officer, Carter?" he teased. When she didn't react as planned he frowned. "What?"

She stepped back and allowed herself to fall into the chair facing his desk. Following her lead, he leaned back and perched on the edge of his desk.

"I feel like a stranger."

He didn't point out that she almost looked like one, too.

"I've walked these halls so many times and I remember everything about this place, but it's not the same and neither am I. I keep having these…flashes of normalcy and it's like I never left, but the moment ends and suddenly I'm right back where I started only I'm _more_ confused than before because, for a moment, everything was okay."

"I know what you mean," he said softly and she smiled.

They sat in silence for a moment until suddenly Jack appeared to have some form of revelation. It turned out, however, to be more of a search for something than an epiphany. A few moments after he began raking through his desk drawers, he walked back around his desk and handed her a letter. She was about to ask him what it was when her name, scrawled on the top of the envelope, caught her eye. She knew that writing very well.

"Wh-when did he write this?" she asked and Jack shrugged.

"I'm not sure. A long time ago, I think. His, eh," Jack cleared his throat, "his hands were a bit…shaky near the end."

Sam nodded, not trusting herself to speak.

"He, eh, he asked for you. Before he died."

Even knowing he meant his statement as a comfort, as a way of telling her that she had never been forgotten, his words broke what little resolve she had left. Sam suddenly covered her face with her hands, the envelope still threaded through her fingers, and sat forward, pressing her forehead to her knees. She wasn't making a sound, but her shoulders were shaking with silent sobs.

She barely even registered that Jack was next to her in an instant, didn't acknowledge that one of his hands was rubbing her back, whilst the other cupped the back of her head. Somehow she didn't need to, because it was enough that he was there.

x x x x x x x

**END OF PART SIX**


	7. Seven

**What's Simple Is True**

**By Kyizi**

_**Disclaimer etc in chapter one**_

x x x x x x x

**Part Seven**

x x x x x x x

"Hey."

Sam jumped and turned to the doorway, smiling at her dad. "Hey," she replied, watching him as he crossed the room to stand beside her. They both turned to stare out the window at the Stargate, silently watching as Jack, Daniel, Teal'c, and Cassie showed Liam around the 'Gate room.

"How you holding up, kiddo."

"My son was invisible this morning and one of my six year olds can read my mind," Sam said with a sigh. "I honestly have no idea." She looked at him and smiled, before leaning against him and hugging his arm. "I've missed you."

"I've missed you too, Sam."

"What?" she asked a few minutes later and he frowned as she looked up at him. "You want to ask me something, I can tell."

"Why didn't you come back?" he asked softly. "When Orlin…when you were alone, why didn't you come back to us?"

"I nearly did. It wasn't the first time either," she admitted. "I've long since lost count of the number of times I almost came back to you."

"Why didn't you?"

"Because…because I didn't know who I was anymore, Dad. I needed to keep it together for the kids and…I don't know anything anymore."

"What happened, Sam? What made you give up everything you ever dreamed of to go into hiding? I know you finally ended up as an Aerospace engineer, but that was only in the last few years and it doesn't even come close to what you gave up. Why?"

She sat up straight and shook her head, smiling at him. "I fell in love."

"You were already in love."

His response was automatic and clearly not something he had intended to actually vocalise. In fact, he looked as shocked by his words as she did.

"I…I don't know what you're talking about." She quickly spun on her heel and headed for the door, but he caught hold of her hand.

"Sam, come back."

"Don't tell me what to do, Dad, I'm not a child anymore."

"Then stop acting like one." She glared at him and he sighed. "Please, Sam, I don't want to fight. Please, just stay."

Sam seemed to consider this for a moment, before taking a seat at the briefing table. He joined her and sighed when he noted how upright she was sitting; it was clear that she was now very uncomfortable.

"I had no right to say that."

"I loved Orlin very much, Dad."

"I know you did. A fool could see it, but-"

"How would you know? You never saw us together. You never even met Orlin," she said, frowning, and he grimaced. "Dad?"

"It's a long story, Sam, a long story for another time. We can talk all this out later, just…you hurt a lot of people when you left and you can't expect us not to want answers."

"I don't, but you need to understand that none of this was planned, Dad, none of it. Orlin took me away, but I could have left at any point. All I had to do was say the words and he would have brought me back home. Even before we returned to Earth. That's _why_ we returned to Earth; I couldn't handle the isolation."

"Were you happy?"

"I really think I was."

"You think?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.

"I built a life with a man I loved very much and I have three beautiful children. I wouldn't trade that for anything."

"You traded everything else for that life."

Sam sighed. "Not a day went by when I didn't think about you all. Not one day, but I couldn't have you both and I wasn't going to let anyone hurt my children. If I'd turned up here with my kids, Dad, I had no guarantee they wouldn't be taken away from me to be studied, or dissected, tested and prodded and…they're my babies!"

"Okay, okay, I understand that." Jacob smiled. "I never realised how much you wanted that kind of life, Sammy. You were always so like me…and that came out wrong."

"I know what you meant. My career meant everything to me and I…" She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I nearly did come back to it once. I had the ticket and I'd packed my bags…I even made it to the airport."

"What happened?"

"I fainted at the check in desk and was taken to hospital."

"You were pregnant."

Sam nodded. "With Liam. Orlin never spoke of it, but I know he wanted so much to make me happy and…he _did_, but sometimes…sometimes it wasn't enough," she said, trying to ignore the fact that she was crying. She felt as if she was betraying her husband by actually saying it. "I think the worst part is that he _knew_."

"He would have brought you back even then, Sam."

"Why do you keep talking about him as if you knew him?"

Jacob sighed. "Because I did."

"I don't understand, what are you saying?"

"It's a long story, Sam, but there's something you should read first." He indicated the envelope she was still clutching. "George had something to say and I think that letter might explain at least part of it. Read it and, when you're ready, come find me."

"I should get back to the girls," she said, still reeling from what he had said and trying to piece everything together.

"I'd like to meet them sometime…if that's okay."

"Of course it's okay, Dad," Sam said, getting to her feet and hugging him impulsively. "They're going to love you."

"Maybe I could come by tomorrow."

"I'd like that," she said, pulling back and smiling at him. "Maybe by then I'll feel like I can actually explain something more about why all of this happened."

"There's no rush."

"I know, but…"

"But you're you and you need to have all the answers."

She rolled her eyes. "Now you sound like Jack."

"Well, we've spent a lot of time together since you left." Jacob shrugged. "I think he missed you almost as much as I did, kid. More, even. He saw you more often than I did and…well…"

Sam averted her gaze and shifted on her feet. "I should go get Liam and head out."

"Just a sec, someone wants to say hi."

She frowned and then chuckled when his eyes glowed yellow. "Hey, Selmac."

"It is good to finally be able to speak to you, Samantha." Sam smiled at the use of her name, somehow almost expecting to be addressed as Major Carter by the Tok'Ra. "Your father has missed you greatly and I have also missed our conversations."

"I've missed you, too, Selmac. I've missed everyone."

"I will not keep you. I wished only to welcome you home. I know you must be anxious to return to your children."

"I am, thank you. You know you could have told him to be quiet a lot sooner than this and we could have caught up," Sam said, fighting a smile when her father took control in order to protest.

Jacob rolled his eyes. "She's laughing. Do you have any idea how annoying she can be?"

"I'm sure she thinks the same thing about you."

"Hey, you're supposed to be on my side."

Sam was about to reply when Jack appeared in the doorway.

"Hey, sorry to interrupt, but I think Liam's getting tired. I doubt he'd admit it, but it's been a long day. He's currently trying to get Teal'c to tell him everything there is to know about, well, everything. I think we may have a future Doctor and Airman on our hands."

Sam smiled. "That's only if you can talk him out of joining the marines."

"What?" both men cried out, glaring at her as if the entire thing was her fault.

"I can't believe you let my grandson get ideas about joining the marines!"

"It's not my fault!" she cried, squeezing past Jack and heading out the door. Somehow, she had the feeling she'd never hear the end of this one.

x x x x x x x

_No one gets left behind._

For some reason those words were echoing inside her head as the envelope stared at her. She'd decided since the moment she picked it up after putting the girls to bed that envelopes could, indeed, stare.

"Stop being stupid," she muttered, turning it over and looking at the seal. "It's not as if you don't _want_ to know what he had to say. In fact you _do_ want to know." Growling she stared up at the ceiling, as if someone was watching her. "I hope you're happy Orlin, I'm now talking to myself. I blame you completely."

She shook her head and smiled sadly. She really missed him.

She looked once more at the envelope and nodded resolutely before ripping it open. She slowly unfolded the letter and looked at it, taking a moment to just stare at the familiar handwriting. She was struck with a sudden longing to see the man she had once called 'Uncle George' and she had to blink away her tears before she started to read.

_Samantha,_

_Well, it certainly feels like a lifetime since I've said your name, let alone written it. I believe the last time I used it properly, I was very promptly put in my place by a beautiful, headstrong eleven year old, who demanded to be called 'Sam' from that day on. You were so much like your mother in so many ways, but I do believe that was the first time I realised that you were completely your father's daughter._

_I feel I should get quickly to the point, as I've tried to write this letter many times and I keep getting interrupted. _

_If you are reading this then that means that I'm no longer here. I had hoped it wouldn't come to this, but I long ago suspected that it was unavoidable. I'm writing this letter for you upon your return to Colorado Springs and the SGC, because I know you well enough to know that you'll have a lot of questions and you won't be satisfied until you get all the answers. _

_By now you're, no doubt, aware that the only trial you face is the one set by those who care for you. I hope to have effectively spared you the trial that the law demands of you. You're probably wondering why your superior officer has 'saved' you from court martial, and a part of me is wondering that as well. But I think it's safe to say that it isn't General George Hammond that's doing this; it's your Uncle George. _

_When you left as abruptly as you did, and under the circumstances that you did, you left a lot of people angry, upset and missing you a great deal, and I will not deny that I was one of them. I want you to be aware that I didn't just do this for you, I did it for them._

_You see, I know that I'm dying. By now it's likely that I'm gone, although you'll find that most people were unaware that I was even ill. But I know I don't have too long and this is my final wish. _

_You see, I've lived a wonderful life; I have a family who love me, and that I love in return, a job I enjoy, and an extended family beyond my wildest dreams. You are a part of that family, Samantha Carter, and I have no doubt that you would have been, whether I had known your father or not. _

_There was one lesson that my own father taught me that I will always remember, one that I hope will live on in my own family, and that is that a person should do all that they can to protect the ones they love. You're a part of my family and I've protected you so that you may protect yours. _

_I suppose that you are wondering how I knew of your new life and I will tell you that it wasn't an easy job tracking you down, but, if there is one thing I pride myself on, it's doing all that I can for those people who matter to me in life. It took seven years after your disappearance for me to find even the slightest hint of where you might be. _

_About a year after you left us, Jack came to me in my office. He was convinced that he had seen you in the SGC. I dismissed his claims and gave him a week off work. _

_However, despite what I told Jack, I believed him when he said you'd returned through the Stargate. If there is one person that man knows, Samantha, it's you. He said you were back and I believed him. However, it would not have done you any favours for certain officials to know that you had returned and, therefore, I officially dismissed his claims. _

_Finally, with the help of your father, we tracked you to North Carolina, and I guess things went from there, until the day we 'went on vacation' and witnessed you with your family. _

_And that is the main reason for all of this, Sam. Family. You have three beautiful children, and a husband who loves you. Now, I don't know what reason has caused your resurfacing, but I know it will be difficult for more than just you, and I wish to make that as painless as possible. _

_Your 'mission' was simple, because I fully believe that's the only way to get you out of this. Since your disappearance, we have had some brief dealings with the Ancients and my official report states that you were given the mission to protect an ally and oversee a scientific and anthropological study of our cultures. In order to maintain open relations with our new 'Allies' (and I do use that term loosely – perhaps you can talk your husband into opening more of a two-way communication now that you're back) you were assigned as a liaison and guide. _

_As your family was more difficult to explain, I'm afraid I was required to fabricate a resignation letter. It wasn't accepted, but I feel I should inform you of everything that was done. Now, when I say it wasn't accepted, I simply mean that the President and the Joint Chiefs, knowing how important you are to this facility and to the planet in general, refused to accept it. When I explained that you wished to go against your mission protocol and marry your 'associate', it was decided that, as Orlin was not a member of our military, no formal regulations stood in your way and, therefore, your resignation was not necessary._

_On that note, I'm glad that I got to see you with your family, and I'm glad that I was able to see you one last time before I passed. I realise you may be upset that we were visiting you without your knowledge, but we felt is was best not to interfere and you'll just have to indulge the sentiments of two old men who care for you very much. _

_We both await your return, but at the same time we pray it will never come. We both realised a long time ago that only tragedy could truly force you out of concealment, and that's the main reason we never let you know we were near._

_Whatever has happened, Samantha Carter, Annie Walker, whoever you are at this moment, you will always be welcomed here, with my family, and, despite whatever anger has yet to dissipate, with your friends as well._

_Welcome home, Sam. I pray that what I've done has been enough._

_George Hammond._

Sam stared down at the familiar handwriting, her tears blurring her vision. It was possibly the longest she had ever heard Hammond speaking and she almost _could_ hear him as she read the words. The letter was a strange mix of formality and familiarity and it almost didn't seem as if it was the same man she knew and loved who had written it. Perhaps he hadn't been the same. She'd left fourteen years ago and a lot could happen in that time, as was proven by the very presence of the children sleeping in the house.

His mentions of Orlin were almost enough to open the floodgates in and of themselves, but it was something that she was getting better at controlling. She didn't think she'd ever truly get over the loss of her husband, but, somehow, it was getting easier to remember the good things and not focus on the things she had given up. Remembering him that way was just enough to make her realise that he was worth everything she had given up, even if it hadn't always seemed that way. The more she thought about it, the more she knew that, eventually, they would have returned to her old life. The more she thought back to all the hints and all the conversations they kept having near the end of his life, the more she realised that he was eventually going to suggest it himself.

She shook her head and smiled as she re-read the letter, trying to remember everything she could about the man who had written it. Her relationship with him had changed from the moment she had joined the SGC, but on so many levels the family bond between them never really had. She'd often overheard other officers within the SGC commenting on the fact that SG1 were Hammond's 'favourites', but it wasn't something she could ever argue, so she had merely ignored it.

She took a deep breath and folded the letter, placing it back into the envelope and putting it into her handbag. She tugged on her boots and picked up her bag, making sure that the spare keys Amy had given her were inside.

She tiptoed up the stairs and looked in on her girls, smiling when she realised that they had all climbed into Katie's bed and were almost lying on top of each other. She debated putting them back where they belonged, but was more worried about waking them than thinking they might fall out of the bed. Instead she pushed the blow-up mattresses the twins were sleeping on so that it was partially under Katie's bed. Feeling better with the knowledge that, even if one of them did fall out, it would be a soft landing, she slowly backed out of the room.

She closed over the door and went down the hall to the spare room Liam was sleeping in and, hearing the computer blaring inside, she entered and instantly put on her 'Mom is not impressed' face. Liam turned around and smiled at her sheepishly.

"I wasn't tired."

"I don't care, Liam," Sam whispered sternly, crossing the room and switching off the TV.

"Mom! I was on the final level!"

"And I'm sure you'll get there again," Sam answered, pulling out the plugs and turning around, hands on hips. "But right now it's oh-three-hundred hours and you should be sleeping, young man."

Liam smiled and, without further protest, climbed into bed. Sam was so surprised by his cooperation that she was utterly speechless.

"You know, I used to think you did that because I want to be in the Air Force, I never knew it was 'cause you were a Major."

Sam grinned. "What happened to the Marines."

Liam lay down and pulled the covers up to his chin. "Oh, Jack and Grampa Jake told me that Marines were just the stupid people that couldn't make it into the Air Force, but with you as my mom, I'd be fine. Besides, Jack said he'd take me up in a plane some time and, if I was good, I could fly it."

"We'll see," Sam said, sitting on the edge of his bed and matting down a wayward piece of his hair – it never sat straight, but she'd never stopped trying. "Grampa Jake?" she asked.

Liam shrugged. "Jack called him that." He frowned. "Actually, he called him 'Dad', but when he was talking to me he called him Grampa Jake. Is Jack your brother?"

Horrified at the thought (and the implications given the complicated relationship she'd always had with her CO) Sam cried, "No!" rather loudly, completely forgetting that it was after three in the morning.

"What? Why else would he call Grampa Jake, 'Dad'?"

"Because he's…_Jack_," she said, as if that explained everything and, to her, it did. However, her son was still waiting for a more thorough answer. "Liam, it's…complicated."

"Oh." Liam frowned and then turned over suddenly, his back to her.

"Liam."

"I'm tired now."

"Liam, don't do this, not now. I can't handle anything else." She tugged on his arm and he finally let her turn him onto his back. "Please."

"Was Jack your boyfriend?"

"No, Liam, I already told you that Jack was my Commanding Officer. There are a lot of strict rules and regulations that prohibit anything like that between officers in the same line of command," she said, not bothering to 'dumb things down' for him.

Liam had grown up with her for a mother; he had a substantial vocabulary and was, with no bias on her part (or so she liked to think), very intelligent for his age. The unfortunate result, of course, was that he had endured bullying from his peers who were a lot older than he was. They had debated for a long time in allowing him to skip a few grades, but Sam had refused to let him sit in a class he could have done three years before. The compromise has been to skip him up only two grades. She tried not to wonder if she'd have done this same thing if she'd realised how hard the other kids might be on him.

"Mom?"

"Yeah?" She shook her head to clear her thoughts.

"_Would_ you and Jack have been-"

"Liam, I can't answer that. I don't know."

He nodded, but still seemed unsatisfied by her answer. If she was honest, he wasn't the only one.

"I loved your dad _so_ much and I wouldn't give you kids up for anything." She smiled. "Not even your arguing."

"But you gave up your whole life for us, didn't you? I heard Jack, Uncle Daniel, and Grampa Jake talking about it."

"I wanted you to be safe." She sighed. "Liam, I love you and I love your sisters and I wouldn't change the past even if I could."

"Okay." He yawned and she smiled, leaning over to kiss his forehead. He scrunched up his face, muttered 'yuck!' and pulled his covers over his head.

"Good night, Liam," she said with a laugh.

"Night, Mom. Wait," he called and she turned around to look at him. "Where are you going?" he asked, indicating her handbag.

"I know it's late, but…I have some explaining to do and, don't ask me to explain why, because I don't know, but I really have to do it now."

"Before you chicken out?"

She smiled. "Something like that. Good night."

She closed over the door and took a deep breath, walking slowly down the stairs and feeling very much as if she was walking towards a noose. She rather wondered if she might be. It was after three in the morning and she wasn't exactly in his good books, but she owed it to him to tell the whole truth and, somehow, she thought it would be harder to do in the harsh light of day. It was easier at night, away from the base…easier when they could do it like that and then, as always, agree to keep it in the room.

Sighing, she left the Jackson house and got into her rental car, hoping that she could see the night through. She wasn't sure how she was going to do this and, if there was one thing she was certain of it was that no one could hold a grudge like Jack O'Neil. What made it worse was that she knew she deserved it.

x x x x x x x

**END OF PART SEVEN**


	8. Eight

**What's Simple Is True**

**By Kyizi**

_**Disclaimer etc in chapter one**_

x x x x x x x

**Part Eight**

x x x x x x x

"What happened?"

It was an instinctive response, she assumed. Being woken in the middle of the night by your wayward 2IC who happened to be having problems with her alien children was bound to invoke that kind of response. Given her real reasons for being on his doorstep, she suddenly wondered if it was a good idea to be there after all.

"I…I'm sorry, Jack, I can just see you t-"

"Fercryinoutloud, Carter, get in." He stood aside and ushered her in the door. Closing it behind her he muttered, "It's four in the morning, this had better be good."

"Really, Sir, I can just-"

"Back to 'Sir' so soon?"

She shrugged. "Sorry, 'Carter' and 'Sir' just seem to go hand in hand." She almost winced at her wording, but couldn't help smiling when she realised he was grinning at her. Liam's reaction to their earlier conversation flitted through her mind and she suddenly felt very uncomfortable.

As if noticing her change in demeanour, he ushered her quickly into the kitchen and put the kettle on. They said nothing as he went about the ritual of making their coffee and she tried very hard not to notice that the dishes in the sink appeared to be in twos. There was a very domestic feel to the house, something she hadn't noticed right away as it was so foreign in his home, but she suddenly felt smothered by its presence.

"I should go," she said abruptly, standing so fast that the chair she had been sitting on clattered to the floor behind her.

"Sam, you'll wake your father," he said, shushing her and she was so taken aback by his words that she said nothing as he righted the chair and sat her back down. "He's upstairs in the spare room, but the walls aren't soundproof, Carter." He crossed his arms and frowned. "What's the sudden hurry?" he asked. "You're the one that woke me at oh-four-hundred and then decided to wake the dead from my kitchen."

"I'm sorry, I just…did you say my Dad was staying here?"

Jack shrugged, turning away from her as the kettle finished boiling. "He usually stays here for a few days before he goes to visit Mark, Cheryl, and the kids. Made sense to stay while he was here to see you. T stayed on base, so he could call Ryac in the morning. Let him know he wouldn't be back for a while."

He finished making the coffee in silence. A few moments later he handed her a mug and sat down on the stool next to her.

"You called me Sam," she said belatedly.

"You've been calling me 'Jack' since you got back," he countered.

"I wasn't complaining," she said, smiling slightly. "It was just… You know, you used to call me Sam, in the beginning, when we first started working together. How crazy is that? Before we really knew each other we were on more familiar terms than we are now that...well, now."

"Carter…"

"I don't mind," she said softly, "really." Blushing slightly, she gave him a quick flash of a smile. "You always managed to say a lot with just 'Carter'"

"Sometimes too much," he muttered.

"Sometimes not enough."

He seemed surprised by her admission and she watched him carefully, watched as the realisation hit him. He finally understood why she was there, talking to him in his kitchen in the middle of the night. They had always needed to be able to hide behind something, whether it was the four walls of a room, or even something as simple as words or names that mean so much more than they appeared. Like that, the night was the only thing they had left to hide behind, because they both knew that too much had happened and there was a lot of anger still to address for anything to be said without being able to lock it away in the morning. Fourteen years might have passed, but still neither one of them was quite ready to have everything out in the open.

"Why did you leave?" he said suddenly and she could finally see all the carefully controlled anger, disappointment, and grief he had been hiding. "Come on, Carter, you owe me that much."

"No, Jack, I owe you so much more, but I can't _give_ it to you, I never could. _That's_ why I left."

"You went off with another man because of that?"

"No, I left with a man who loved me, a man that I loved, and I lived a happy life that I could never have had otherwise."

"You could have had anything you wanted, Carter, all you ever had to do was tell someone."

"I couldn't tell anyone! There are rules and regulations and-"

"No." The hard edge to his voice suddenly tripled and she instantly stopped talking. "You do not get to blame this on the Military. You do not get to blame this on the Rules and Regulations, Sam, because we both know that if it was what you'd wanted then we would have found a way."

They were no longer even pretending they were talking about her leaving anyone other than him. Somehow that made it easier to let go of everything.

"It didn't matter what I wanted, because you didn't want it!"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"You left it all in that room, Jack. You agreed that was where it had to stay," Sam said, her voice suddenly void of any anger. "You didn't want to discuss it, you didn't want anything more to do with it, so I was left hanging on and pretending that it didn't hurt and that it didn't matter and that I didn't care that I had nothing but my work. I didn't just lose the possibility of there ever being an 'us' in that room, I lost my friend. You barely spoke to me after that, not if it wasn't to do with work, or Daniel, or Teal'c. We barely even hung out as a team. God, even Janet didn't know what to say to me."

He was staring at her and she was suddenly unnerved by how still he had been and how silent he was still being. When he didn't so much as move, she decided to continue, decided to get it out whilst she still could…before she started to feel as if she was betraying the very memory of everything she'd ever shared with her husband.

"When Orlin showed up, my life got more complicated than it had ever been and…you didn't believe me. No one did. I'd helped you save this planet so many times and I'd always been there for you all when I was needed. We'd seen so much by then and still you didn't believe in me. You all thought I was stressed and imagining things and…he was _real_ and he saw _me_. He didn't see Major Carter who did nothing but hide behind her work and try to pretend she wasn't in love with her CO, he just saw _me_. And he loved me. And I was so lonely."

She tried not to focus on the fact that she was crying, or even on the fact that she had just admitted she had been in love with him, instead she found herself focussing on the fact that his eyes were somewhat bright.

"I loved him, Jack. Maybe not the day I left with him, because God knows I barely knew him, but I fell in love with him. It wasn't a fairytale, but he _wasn't_ a replacement. Even when I tried to leave him and come back to you all, I loved him and making that decision almost broke me. Liam helped put that back together and so did Alice and Sarah…but I could never let you all go. Never."

They sat in silence, just staring at each other, almost having a conversation with their eyes. But she had been gone a long time and they had both changed, had both gone through so much, that there were words missing from that silent communication they had once possessed. It was as if she was trying to remember the fragments of a foreign language she had once spoken fluently, but just hadn't used in a long time. It was almost there, but they were both struggling with the intricacies. And it was the intricacies that had defined them. It was what hadn't been said that had told them everything. And it was maddening to be unable to find the translation.

"Start at the beginning," Jack said softly.

He wasn't ready to speak just yet. This was one thing he needed all the details for before he could even begin respond. And that she understood.

"He gave me a choice," she began. "When he came back in that light, he didn't offer to fix everything for me, or to be my knight in shining armour." Jack snorted and she smiled, both of them knowing that she was the last person to willingly play damsel in distress. "He just…offered to take me away from it all. He didn't even say that I had to be with him, he just…he told me he loved me and that he just wanted me to be happy.

"He was always so open about everything. Frankly, Sir, it bugged the crap out of me most of the time. But…it just sounded so good. I was so tired of everything, so tired of pretending that I was okay with everything when I wasn't. I missed you and Daniel and Teal'c. When we left everything in that room, it didn't just affect us. We played the part of SG1, but we weren't the same. I didn't want to do that anymore. I wanted to be happy and…I was going to resign my commission. I was going to become Doctor Samantha Carter instead of Major Carter. I was going to do that for you and it terrified me. I never wanted to be in that position, Jack, I always promised myself that I would never let anything get in the way of my dreams and…and I was willing to give it up for you."

"I wouldn't have let you, you know."

She smiled sadly at him. "I know that. I knew that then. That was the problem. You didn't want me. Please, Jack, don't interrupt me. Not until I…let me finish while I can." He nodded, but didn't look particularly happy about it.

"When Orlin offered to take me away, I was just so tired of it all and I said yes before I could really think about it. I wanted it all to stop. I wanted to be happy."

She took a long drink of her coffee and continued.

"When he took me back, the others weren't very happy. I couldn't see them, of course, but, after a while, when they realised that Orlin was keeping me around, some of them started to speak to me. They…they'd come to whatever planet we were on and take corporeal form for a while. We'd talk about anything and everything and…it was nice, but it wasn't home. Asha was the most curious about me and I guess we became friends of a sort. I think it was her who told Orlin I wasn't happy.

"We were on P4X 898 when you came…you, Daniel, Teal'c…and Lieutenant Fairgreave."

"He lasted about a month…which is a month longer than McKay."

Sam laughed, remembering Daniel's stories about the man who hadn't even made it through one debrief before Jack had yelled, 'Next!' and refused to even acknowledge that the Astrophysicist was still in the room. McKay had apparently stormed off in a huff and refused to return until he received a written apology from the then-Colonel O'Neill. Daniel had forged the signature and McKay had joined SG2. She'd really have to ask Paul how that was going.

She shook her head to clear her thoughts, realising that Jack was waiting for her to continue. "When I saw you all, I just knew that I couldn't live like that anymore. I watched you all interacting and I just _missed_ it. I missed it so much that it hurt and…I needed to go home. If I'd thought I could just come back to you then, I would have, but I didn't know how you'd react if I suddenly…no, that's a lie, I knew exactly how you'd react and I just couldn't handle that.

"We followed you back through the Stargate and waited on the base until you left. I don't know why Orlin didn't just take me away himself, he had the power, but…I guess he knew I needed to see you all and make sure you were all okay. When you saw me in that lift I…how did you know I was there?"

Jack shrugged, but didn't answer. She shook her head and continued.

"We moved from place to place, but everything reminded me of home. By the time we arrived in California I'd had enough moving about and we stayed there. I tried to be a teacher for a while," she said, smiling as he tried not to laugh. "Yeah, it didn't work out so well. Orlin kept changing my credentials when I got bored and felt the need for a change of career and we changed our names a lot, moved when we could. We didn't…we weren't together at first. That happened after we came back to Earth and settled down. I tried to be happy, but it was so hard and I missed you all…" she trailed off, not sure if there were some things that just weren't meant to be shared.

"Sam." His quiet prompt was enough.

"It was Charlie's birthday," she whispered, glancing up at him. "I couldn't get the date out of my head. All I could think about was that I wasn't there for you. You never really let any of us in, but I always knew it was enough that we were there. I lost track of time before we came back to Earth, so the previous year I hadn't even thought about it and when I realised _that_ I felt even worse. I just…snapped. I packed my bags, booked myself on the next flight, and headed straight to the airport."

"But you didn't come back."

"No," she said softly, "I didn't. I collapsed at the airport and was taken to hospital. I didn't know I was pregnant until they told me I'd almost lost the baby. After that…we never spoke about it again and we just tried to be a happy family. I loved him, Jack, and I love my son…I just wanted everything to stop being so complicated."

"Why did you call him Liam?"

"I wanted to remember you all, but somehow I thought Orlin might not appreciate it if I called him Jack Daniel."

Jack smiled. "Hey, that's a good whisky."

Sam groaned. "That wasn't what I meant. That never even occurred to me. And it's not even a proper whisky."

"True." Jack's smile faded and he cleared his throat. "Did Orlin know?"

She shook her head. "I don't think so…I think he suspected, but I have no idea if he actually knew for sure. I didn't call him Liam because of…I just wanted to _remember_ you all. I was thinking back to all our time off world and I remembered those days we spent on P4Y 742. We spent two days just sitting around while Daniel tried to translate that rock carving and…I think that was the best time we'd ever spent off world. The night's lasted so long and we actually _talked_. All of us. It was the only time I you ever really spoke to me about your past. I remembered what you said about always wanting to call Charlie after your grandfather and…naming my children after you all was the only connection I had left to this life. I thought about calling him after my dad, but I couldn't. I knew it'd hurt too much.

"We moved to North Carolina before Liam was born," she continued, picking up her narrative again and absently wondering how he felt about the fact that she'd changed so much; the 'old Sam' would never have felt comfortable talking about herself for so long. The new Sam wasn't exactly thrilled with the fact either.

"I wanted a fresh start and I didn't want to start my child's life with the fact that I'd almost walked out on his father." She smiled suddenly. "Orlin was so sure it was going to be a girl. He decorated the entire room in purple; I'd warned him that if he painted it pink I'd hurt him," she said, smirking at Jack. "When Liam was born, he spent the two days I was in hospital visiting and the nights redecorating the entire room and getting rid of the dolls and ponies." She laughed. "He was so excited and…I was happy, Jack. I wasn't complete, but I was so happy. I spent years doing research at the local university, filling in for lecturer's teaching first year Physics and Astronomy…it wasn't perfect, but it was close.

"When the girls were born I…I thought that was it. My life was perfect. So when they were old enough to go to Kindergarten, I decided it was time to maybe get back into…well, as close to what I wanted as I could. It was…life was good and then…"

"What happened?" Jack asked when she trailed off.

"There was a fire. Orlin had worked as a vet since before the girls were born, he loved animals, and…he was on call at the stables a few miles outside of town and…there was an accident and…Orlin had already become mostly human again, he retained only a little of his power, so when the whole building went on fire, he…he tried to save everyone, all the horses, as well…he thought he'd be fine, that he'd be able to heal. He used up the last of his energy to become human again…hoping that it would give him the strength to…but his injuries…he was… His face Jack, he…"

"Come here."

Jack tugged on her arm and pulled her into his embrace. Something about it struck her as inappropriate, but more than anything she just needed to be held. She'd cried openly for her husband only once since he had died. That night in Liam's room after the funeral had been the only time she'd truly let her emotions take over. Now, almost two years later, having reached that point where she felt she had told the last of her secrets, she was finally able to let go.

x x x x x x x

"Should we wake her?"

"Nah, let her sleep. I spoke to Daniel this morning. The girls couldn't find her and all Liam knew was that she had someone she had to speak to."

"How's she doing?"

"She's…Carter."

"Thanks, Jack, that explains everything."

"What? You were eavesdropping, you know as much as I do."

"I wasn't eavesdropping, you two were making enough noise to wake the dead."

"Yeah, well…she'll be fine."

"She always is."

Sam smiled slightly as she debated how much longer she should wait in the hallway. She was actually glad her father had overheard her the previous night, it was one less time she had to go through everything. Finally letting go of everything had completely drained her and it hadn't taken much persuasion on Jack's part to talk her into staying. She'd refused to take his room, however, and had insisted on taking the fold down couch in his den. Somehow, despite the circumstances, she'd had the best night's sleep she could remember having in a long time.

Deciding she'd waited long enough, she took a deep breath and entered the kitchen. "Morning," she said, smiling at her father. She hugged him briefly, instantly relaxing when she caught Jack's eyes. He smiled at her a little and nodded.

"So, kiddo," her dad said, pulling out of her embrace. "I was thinking I'd quite like to take my Grandkids to the zoo today."

She smiled and accepted the coffee Jack was handing her. "The girls would jump at the chance, but Liam has too much of his father in him; he thinks zoos are inhumane and if you mention it to him he's likely to chew your ear off for few hours."

"And he wants to be in the Military?"

Sam grinned. "He's a very complicated boy."

"Takes after his mother," Jack said, indicating that they should sit. He finished making breakfast and handed out the plates, before sitting opposite Sam. They chatted amicably throughout breakfast, making sure not to touch on anything to do with her situation and, just as they were clearing away their plates, the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it," Jacob said, quickly excusing himself.

Sam stood and started clearing the table, ignoring the fact that Jack was watching her quietly. She started to fill the sink, jumping when his hand covered hers. She hadn't even heard him coming up behind her.

"Leave it, I'll get them later."

"Okay." She cleared her throat and stepped away from him. There was nothing to hide behind and she was well aware of the fact that he was planning on saying something that was best left unspoken.

"Sam."

She stopped fidgeting and looked at him. He didn't speak, instead he let his eyes do the talking and she smiled, realising that she knew exactly what he was trying to say. For the first time since her return, she was truly able to believe that everything would be okay.

"Momma!"

Sam jumped and turned around, grinning and only just managing to catch Alice, who had thrown herself into the air. She settled her daughter on one hip and turned to ruffle Sarah's hair. Liam was standing in the doorway, eyeing Jack warily and she inwardly cursed, wishing she'd thought to warn Jack that Liam wasn't likely to be overly friendly with him today.

"Momma," Alice said, tugging on her hair, which was still hanging loosely around her face. "Liam said that man was our Grampa."

Sam grinned at her father. "That's because he is."

"Really?"

Sam nodded.

Sarah tugged on her trouser leg and she looked down at her other daughter. "What is it, sweetie?"

"Why is there a lady inside Grampa's head?"

Sam groaned. If there was one thing she hadn't wanted to deal with today it was Sarah's sudden willingness to talk about her abilities. Before Sam could answer, however, Sarah giggled.

"She's funny. She said Grampa Jake's a stick in the mud."

"Hey!"

Everyone laughed, but there was a strange undercurrent of uncertainty in the room with them now. No one was quite sure how to handle the sudden realisation that Sarah could talk to the alien inside her grandfather's head, least of all Sam.

"I need to sit down," she said, feeling as if that phrase had been uttered more in the last few days than it ever had during either of her pregnancies. However, with Sarah still wrapped around one of her legs, she couldn't really move.

"Can we go to the zoo with Grampa Jake?" Sarah asked, seeming unperturbed by the fact that her mother looked rather like she was about to faint.

Jacob seemed startled. "I hadn't even asked them yet," he said with a smile.

"Zoos are-"

"Not now, Liam, please," Sam said and Liam glared at her.

"Whatever." He turned his glare on Jack, then turned and headed back towards the front door.

"Daniel's trying to get Katie to put her shoes on," Jacob said when Sam made to go after him. "He's still out there. I'm sure he can handle it."

"Auntie Amy had to go to work," Alice said, loosely braiding one side of her mother's hair. "And Katie said she didn't want to wear shoes today. Or pants, but Uncle Daniel wouldn't let her leave the house without _them_ on."

"Momma," Sarah asked quietly, not waiting for Alice to finish before speaking over her and Sam almost missed what she was saying. "Why is Liam angry at Jack?" She closed her eyes and, given that she didn't want to spell out the answer to her six year old daughter, tried her best to close off her mind as well.

"Liam's just…upset about a lot of things at the moment. It'll be okay, Sarah."

"Is it 'cause he goes invisible?"

Sam sighed and nodded.

"Why can't you ask the glowy people for help?" Alice asked, frowning. Her tongue was sticking out of one side of her mouth as she tried to get the end of Sam's hair to cooperate.

"The glowy people?" Sam asked, glancing briefly at Jack and her father. She had a bad feeling that she was about to make a discovery about her other daughter.

"The ones that look after us."

Sarah rolled her eyes. "See, Ali thinks silly things."

"I do not!"

"Do too!"

"Not!"

"Too!"

"Girls!" Sam was determined to stop them before they got right into the argument. She knew from experience they could last for hours. "Alice, what do you mean?"

Her daughter shrugged and took the hair tie from her own hair with one hand before starting to wrap it around the end of her mother's braid. "Sarah said you wanted help to fix Liam and Darnal and Asha are good at _everything_."

"Oh, my God," Sam whispered, turning Alice so that she was holding the girl right in front of her. Ignoring her daughter's protestations about finishing her hair, Sam held her in place. "Alice, please tell me what you mean. When did Darnal and Asha visit you?"

"They didn't, I go see them sometimes."

Sarah giggled. "Ali has a stupid diner and a park in her head and she goes and talks to silly glowly people all the time."

"They're not silly! Mommy, can we go to the zoo now?" Alice asked.

"Sam, why don't you let me and Daniel take the girls out," her father said, stepping forward. "I think you need some time to take this all in."

Sam nodded mutely and allowed the girls to hug her goodbye. She took a seat at the table again, not saying anything as Jack sat next to her, eyeing her warily, as if waiting to see how she was going to react. She wasn't really sure how she was _supposed_ to react. It seemed that every time she made headway with one thing, something else had to fall apart.

"I…I don't even know what to say," Sam muttered as the front door closed and the sounds of her children faded. "What am I meant to do with all this?"

"Am I supposed to answer, or…?"

She glanced at Jack and smiled. "I just wish…"

"You wish Orlin was here."

"Yeah, I really do."

"Mom?"

Sam turned around so fast that she almost fell off her chair. Somehow, even thought she knew Liam wouldn't set foot in a zoo, she had assumed that he had left with his grandfather and Daniel.

"Liam."

"Hey, kid," Jack said. He could clearly tell that there was something up with her son, something that had to do with him, and Sam was pretty sure that he had a fair idea of what that was.

"Hey, Jack." Liam shifted on his feet and stood awkwardly in the doorway. "Who's Orlin?"

"That was your father's name," Sam replied. "Before we got married and decided to stay on Earth."

"So…what's my name?"

"You're still my Liam."

"Okay…is my last name Carter now?"

Sam frowned. "Why would you think that?"

He shrugged. "I dunno. If Dad's real name wasn't Kevin Walker, then that's not my real last name, so what is?"

"I…I never really thought about it, I guess. Your dad chose it, he thought it was nice and easy and…he liked it."

"Can I keep it?"

"Of course you can, Liam."

There was a moment of uncomfortable silence before Liam looked at Jack again. He was clearly trying to make up his mind about something and Jack was looking particularly uncomfortable about what that something might be. A moment later, however, Liam seemed to have come to a decision.

"Do you have any computer games?"

Jack grinned. "Follow me."

Sam watched them leave the room, knowing that she was going to have a hard time dragging Liam away from Jack's den when they had to leave; the man had more computer games than Liam and his friends put together. Sighing, she decided to take her mind off things and focus on something she should have done days ago.

She reached into her bag and pulled out her cell phone. Not really sure she was ready to see how many messages she had, she braced herself as she turned it on for the first time since she had left North Carolina. It took a few minutes, but she wasn't disappointed when it began to beep repeatedly, as it clocked up her missed calls and saved messages.

Sighing, Sam decided it would take more time than she really had to go through them all and just dialled the one person she knew she had to talk to first. She drummed her fingers on the table as her nerves finally hit her and almost forgot to breathe when the call was actually answered.

"Hello? Hello?"

"Terri?"

"Oh, my God, Annie? Are you okay? Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, where the heck are you? Is everything all right? Are the kids okay? Jamie said that Liam got into a fight at school and-"

"Terri!"

"Sorry, sweetie, I'm just so glad ya called. I've been ringin' for days. What happened?"

Sam sighed. "It's a long story, Terri, I don't even know if I could begin to explain it. We're safe and the kids are fine."

"Where are you?"

"I'm in Colorado Springs."

"What the heck are you doin' there?"

Sam laughed and leaned back in her chair. "I…I came to visit my father."

"Oh…is he okay? Izy said you had a family emergency and that she hadn't heard from ya for over a week."

"Yeah, his best friend passed away last week and…we were all close."

"You never really talk about your family. In fact, I thought Kev said they were no longer with us."

Sam sighed again, feeling as if she was going to have to do nothing but explain things and lie for the rest of her life. "I…I've been in witness protection for the last thirteen years," she said, using the cover story they had come up with over the last few days.

"Oh, my God. What happened?"

"Well, I'm a Major in the Air Force and let's just say I saw a few things that certain people felt I wasn't supposed to. I can't really go into details. It's all classified. But everything's being sorted out as we speak," she said, feeling as if that was perhaps the only truth she'd ever be able to tell her friend. "We're safe."

"Wait a minute. I'm sorry. You're in the Air Force?"

Sam grinned. "I am."

Terri whooped with laugher. "Wait 'til I tell Mike! I can tell him, can't I?"

"Yeah, you can. And you can tell him that it took him years to get my son over to the dark side, but it only took us three days to get him back on track," she said with a grin. Just talking to her best friend was enough to lighten her spirits and she wished she'd had the sense to do it days ago.

"Hey Mike!"

Sam grinned, knowing that Terri hadn't covered the phone for the specific purposes of Sam hearing the conversation she was about to have with her husband; a man who had been in the Marine Corps for over twenty years.

"Annie says to tell ya that Liam's signin' up with the Air Force."

"What? Annie's on the phone? She okay?"

"Hey, Terri, put him on," Sam called into her phone, hoping her friend could hear her. Whilst she could make out what Mike was saying, his voice was distant and she did want to talk to him.

"Okay, but I better get to talk to you before ya hang up, sweetie."

"I promise," Sam replied, grinning. She heard them passing over the phone and in the background she could hear Terri calling Jamie and Kara, no doubt to tell them that she and the kids were safe.

"Hey, Annie-pie," Mike greeted and she rolled her eyes.

"Hello Michael."

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Terri will explain everything later when she has all the details," Sam said. She then listened patiently as Mike asked her the same questions she knew she'd get from Terri, despite having been told his wife would fill him in. The conversation, however, swiftly moved on to a healthy 'debate' about the armed forces and Sam couldn't help but smile as she realised that, for the first time since she had met them, she was finally able to truly be herself with her friends.

x x x x x x x

"Everything okay on the home front?"

Sam turned to face Jack as she put her cell phone back in her bag. She nodded and groaned, stretching as she stood up. She'd spent over two hours on the phone. Whilst most of the time was spent talking with Terri and Izy, which she was feeling all the better for, a quick call to her kids schools had been followed by a long and heated conversation with her boss, who was more than a little upset that she had left on such short notice and even more annoyed that she wouldn't be returning in the foreseeable future.

"I guess you heard some of that?"

Jack shrugged. "A little. We came through for a few minutes. Liam thought you were talking to his Uncle…Mike?" Sam nodded and he continued, "But you'd already called someone else by then."

"Izy, my assistant."

"So, how did the cover story go?"

"Surprisingly well," Sam replied, moving to boil the kettle. "I think Terri was scared to death that we were still in danger, but I- What?" she demanded.

A grin continued to play on his lips. "Nothin'."

"Jack."

"What?"

"There is nothing different about my voice."

"Then how did you know what I was laughing at?"

She growled at him before getting two cups out of the cupboard. She pulled out the coffee and retrieved the milk from the fridge, all the while studiously ignoring the smug look on his face.

"So," Jack finally said. "Liam's talking to me again."

Sam froze for a moment. "Yeah, sorry, I meant to let you know he was-"

"It's okay. Although, it might've been nice to have a little warning before all the questions started."

"Questions?" she asked, turning to face him. "What questions?"

Jack shrugged. "Military protocol, stuff like that."

Sam closed her eyes and leaned back against the counter. "I'm so sorry."

"It's no big deal, Carter, he's got every right to want to know."

"I should have told you he'd asked me about you."

Jack sighed. "It was my own fault. Never even occurred to me to stop calling your dad, 'Dad'. Guess I should've realised that your kids would pick up on it."

"I think he picked up on more than that," she said softly.

"Mom?"

She turned to the doorway and smiled at Liam. "Yeah?"

"Is Uncle Mike mad?"

Sam frowned. "Why would he- Oh, you mean because of the Air Force thing?" Liam nodded and she grinned. "No, Liam, he's not mad. And even if he was, I can take him."

Liam laughed, but Jack raised his eyebrows. "She's not joking, you know."

"What?"

"Your mom's pretty good at defending herself when she needs to." Somehow she just knew that twinkle in his eyes had something to do with a fight that had been preceded by her wearing a certain blue dress… "She could show the marines a thing or two."

"More than Uncle Teal'c?" Liam asked suspiciously and they all laughed.

"Liam, I think Teal'c could take us _all_ out at the same time and not even break a sweat," Jack said with a smirk. "I'm sure if you ask him, he'd show ya."

"You think so?"

"Why don't we hold off on the violence for the time being," Sam interrupted, turning to make the coffee when the kettle finished boiling.

"Oh, Mom!"

"Oh, Mom, nothing. We'll talk about it some other time."

"You always say that," Liam said, rolling his eyes.

"And I mean it."

"Hey, kid," Jack said with a conspiratorial wink. "Best not to argue with her; she blew up a sun once."

"Jack!"

x x x x x x x

**END OF PART EIGHT**


	9. Nine

**What's Simple Is True**

**By Kyizi**

_**Disclaimer etc in chapter one**_

x x x x x x x

**Part Nine**

x x x x x x x

"I don't know where to start, Jan, I really don't." Sam sighed and almost inhaled the coffee she was holding. It had been a long time since she'd really indulged in so much of her favourite vice, but the stress of her current situation had brought back her old habits with an almost alarming intensity. She was going to be awake for days. "I assume you've been caught up on the latest," she said with a wry grin and the petite doctor merely shrugged.

"I may have had lunch with Daniel and Amy yesterday."

Sam nodded. "Amy told me. You had the right Jackson woman with you; I spent yesterday lunchtime cleaning up after the youngest one."

"She's quite the terror." Janet laughed. Sam glanced at her curiously, before turning back to her coffee, and Janet frowned. "What?"

"I'm just wondering why you never had any kids."

Janet shook her head. "Evan and I both decided that neither of us was cut out to look after a baby. We've thought about adopting now that Cassie's gone. We kind of miss having a teenager about the house. I have to say, though, looking at what you're going through at the moment is almost enough to put me of children entirely."

Sam laughed. "Unless Evan is hiding something about his heritage, I don't think you'd have to worry about my kind of problems."

Janet chuckled. "That's true. Now, you were saying?"

"Oh, God, sorry I'm late!" Both women looked up as Cassie dropped into the spare chair at their table. "Couldn't get the car parked. This place is crazy. Why couldn't we go somewhere else?"

Sam smiled at her, bemused. "Because I haven't had a coffee from this place in a long time."

"Sam and Daniel are the only reason this place is still around," Janet said with a smirk. "They spent enough money in here during their first two years at the SGC to keep it going for decades."

"I'd be offended by that remark if it wasn't true."

"You know that the coffee bean is one of nature's poisons, right?" Cassie asked and Sam groaned as Janet smirked at her.

"You truly are your mother's daughter, Cass."

"So," Cassie said, not beating around the bush. "You were going to be telling us about your kids. Mom's filled me in about what you told Jack." Sam knew that Jack (with her permission) had only passed on certain information to Daniel, but knowing that everyone was, by now at least, well aware of the feelings she had once had for her CO, the statement made her cheeks burn. Without waiting for Sam to answer, Cassie indicated to one of the waiters and ordered drinks for each of them. "So, I'm here, I'm listening, you may begin."

Sam laughed. "You're…different than I expected."

"I'm almost afraid to ask what you expected."

"She's a bossy little know-it-all," Janet supplied and her daughter glared at her. "What? You know it's true. It'd bother me if it didn't help shut Doctor Mackay up every other day."

Cassie smiled. "You're just sore because Dad told you to stop being mean to him."

"I take my pleasures where I can. I swear, if he didn't actually _have_ so many health problems, his constant complaining would have had him out the door the first time he opened his mouth."

"He sounds like a real treat, I can't wait to meet him." When her companions exchanged glances, she frowned. "What?"

"I don't think you want to meet him, Sam," Janet said and Cassie chuckled.

"Yeah, I think he used to have a crush on you."

"He's never even met me!"

Cassie smiled. "Yeah, but he used to work for the Pentagon. I think he got your old job when you left for the SGC, so he used to read all your reports and stuff."

"Oh, God. I remember Paul talking about him now that you mention it."

"Yeah, Dad said you knew the Colonel."

Sam smiled. "It's weird to know that you're not talking about Jack when you say that."

"It's weird to hear you call him Jack," Cassie retorted. She shrugged. "SG2 are a weird team."

"Don't you let your father hear you say that."

"He knows it," Cassie said. "He says it all the time."

"Who's their fourth?" Sam asked, smiling at the familiarity of listening to Janet and Cassie bantering. Whilst it was strange to hear Cassie refer to a father, their interaction clearly hadn't suffered when Janet had married. In fact, it seemed as if that had actually made them closer. She knew that Janet and Cassie had been fighting a lot before she left, especially as Cassie got older, but the introduction of another member of their family seemed to have helped moderate the arguments into something more civilised and, in the long run, that showed.

"Lieutenant Pike. He's a munitions expert. He's kinda quiet, actually, I can count on one hand the number of words he's said to me and I think they've all been 'hi'."

Sam laughed. "I'd imagine with Paul on the team, he doesn't get much chance to say anything."

"That's what Evan says," Janet said with a frown. "But I don't think I've ever had a proper conversation with him. He just does his job."

Cassie shrugged. "He hangs out with Colonel Sheppard and Doctor Mackay, I think. They were all supposed to go on the Atlantis Mission, but when the 'Gate wouldn't lock they were reassigned to the SGC."

"That made a lot of waves, I can tell you," Janet muttered. "Colonels Sheppard and Sumner didn't exactly hit it off."

Sam smiled. "You'll have to tell me about it sometime."

"But not now," Cassie interrupted as their drinks arrived. "Right now, we're here to talk about you and your kids. What's the latest?"

Sam groaned. "I think Alice can speak to the Ancients…in her head."

"Wow," Cassie said. "And I really didn't think your life could get any weirder. Seriously. That's…messed up."

"Cassandra!"

"I'm sorry, Mom, but it is. I'd be freaking out."

"Yes, but we're here to make sure that Sam _doesn't_ and that is not helping."

Sam laughed. "No, but the two of you together are."

"See, I'm helpful. I am of use."

"Then help me out of this one, Cass," Sam said with a sigh. "I could really use anything I can get."

"Right. Okay. So, what do we know? They each seem to have developed a different ability, right?" Sam nodded and Cassie smiled. "Well, that's one thing. If they all end up developing the same abilities at least you'll know what to expect."

"I've actually been thinking about that," Janet said, leaning closer to ensure that no one was listening. The café they were sitting in was often frequented by Base personnel, but, despite that fact that they weren't talking specifically about matters of National Security, they last thing they needed was for the wrong person to overhear them. "I don't think they will develop the same abilities, in fact they may not even develop any more at all. I may be wrong, but from the tests I've already done on Liam and the fact that they _have_ all developed differently, I get the feeling that this is much the same situation as a human child becoming proficient in different areas than his or her siblings. Your brother's an English teacher, am I right, Sam?"

"Yeah, he is."

"And you're a scientist. I think this might just be the same thing, but with their father's genes coming to the fore."

Sam nodded slowly, considering the idea. "It'd certainly make my life a lot easier, but…Jan, I haven't even spoken to Alice about, well, anything and Sarah's…" Sam let out a slow breath. "I'm just not handling this at all."

"That's funny, because only yesterday we were all talking about how well you were handling everything." Janet smiled at her. "I think you know by now that motherhood is the one thing that you will never have all the answers for."

"And," Cassie interjected. "The way I see it, the universe figured you were too smart to deal with just the normal problems and decided to set you a harder challenge."

"I think they set this one too hard. My kid's lives are never going to be the same again."

Janet winced. "Actually, from what I can tell, the girls' lives are going to continue exactly as they always were. It seems they've been aware of their 'special talents' for a long time."

"Then why hasn't Liam?"

"Maybe the need just hadn't arrived. Orli- sorry, Kevin, had to _want_ to do what Liam can. I get the feeling that Liam had never felt the need to disappear before. At least not as strongly. And, maybe he has actually done it but he just didn't know it."

"That sounds more likely. I can't remember how many times I just wanted to disappear," Cassie said. "Especially in High School…and on my Bachelorette Party."

Sam laughed. "Yeah, your mom told me about that one."

"It was not my fault and I have _no idea_ where the chickens came from!"

"They were roosters dear," Janet said with a smirk and Cassie glared.

The three women started to laugh and Sam finally felt herself relaxing again. It seemed as if whenever the subject turned to her children every muscle in her body tensed up.

"So, what's next?" Cassie asked her mother.

"I was thinking about planning dinner."

Sam smiled. "Now _that_ sounds like a good idea."

"At the General's."

"Even better," Cassie added with a grin. "We can invite everyone and have a proper homecoming for you. And this way none of us have to do the cooking!"

"Maybe we should check first," Sam said warily, despite knowing that the former-Frasier women had already decided.

"Oh, don't you worry about that," Janet said with a smirk. "We have a secret weapon." She inclined her head to the left and Sam laughed when she realised that Cassie was already on the phone to Jack.

The General really didn't stand a chance.

x x x x x x x

"It's the Carters! And the Jacksons! Welcome," Jack said, ushering them inside. Sam took one look at his 'don't blame the chef' apron and laughed.

"Covering all your bases, Sir?"

"The management takes no responsibility for loss of appetite, taste buds, hair, or any other- gah! The steaks." Jack rushed off towards the patio doors, calling out "Make yourselves at home," behind him.

"Jack's a little crazy, isn't he?"

"Yes, Liam," Sam said with a smile, as Daniel snorted. "Jack's a little crazy. But don't think for one second that 'make yourself at home' means you get to hide in the den playing computer games all night."

"Oh, mom!"

"Don't you 'oh, mom' me, Liam. Outside. Now. All of you."

The girls scurried off into the back garden and Liam trailed half-heartedly behind them. Sam rolled her eyes at his theatrics, but refused to change her mind. Following their children into the yard, Amy, Daniel, and Sam found that they weren't the first to arrive. In fact, it looked like they might be last.

In one corner of the yard, Cassie and Janet stood by Teal'c and a young man Sam assumed was Cassie's husband. There were nine men (including Janet's husband, Evan Lorne) and three women sitting at the large outdoor table that Jack had pulled out for the occasion, and Jack and her father were tending to the barbeque. There were also a handful of children running around and she was happy to note that the girls had joined in effortlessly. Liam had also spotted a boy and girl, who looked to be about his age, sitting under a tree and was moving towards them.

Whilst Daniel moved to Tealc's side and Amy moved to join the others at the table, Sam headed straight for the barbeque. She smiled as she watched her father and her former CO arguing good-naturedly about the logistics of serving the guests and was happy just to watch until they noticed her presence.

"Sammy," her father said, he and Jack turning to face her suddenly. It appeared that neither General had lost his periphery senses; they both knew when they were being approached. "Will you tell him that there's no way that eight kids can eat twelve full steaks."

"What? Kids eat a lot."

"Jack," Sam interjected, before the argument could fully develop again. "Five of those kids are under ten. You're going to be eating leftovers for a week."

Jack sighed. "Fine. But I still say we should cook 'em all anyway. Someone'll eat them."

"Well, Tealc's here," Sam pointed out, shrugging at her father.

Jack smiled, glancing over her shoulder. "Yeah and SG2 can put away a lot, too."

Sam turned to see Paul heading her way and she offered him a wave. He grinned and pulled her into a hug when he arrived on the patio.

"Hey, how are you?"

"I'm good, thanks. Your mission go okay?"

Paul groaned. "Don't ask. Just know that I hate mud." They all laughed knowing, from their own experience, _exactly_ what he meant. He frowned at her, but was still smiling.

"What?" Sam asked, self consciously.

"I didn't really notice how different you looked when I saw you the other day. I like your hair."

"Thank you," Sam said, laughing. "I never quite know what to do with it. Sometimes I think about just chopping it all off, but I don't think the girls would forgive me."

"I like it. It suites you, don't you think, Jack?"

The look on the Paul's face told Sam that he was _exactly_ the same man she had known all those years ago when she worked for the Pentagon; the difference was that he was now well placed within the world of the SGC, he was friends with the same people she knew and loved, and he knew exactly what can of worms he was opening with that question. He also didn't seem to care. It seemed he was no longer as wary with Jack as he once had been.

"Yes, Paul," Jack said, the look in his eyes telling the man that he was going to make him pay for that one later. Jack glanced at Sam, catching her eyes and smiled softly. "It suites her just fine."

Feeling a blush spread across her cheeks, she self-consciously tucked her hair behind her ears and cleared her throat. "I think I'm going to head over and meet Cassie's husband," she said, excusing herself.

As she wandered across the garden, moving quickly out of the way as Katie and Sarah chased a young boy across her path, she noticed that Evan had joined the group. Smiling, she approached, taking her place next to Daniel and Teal'c.

"It's nice to see you again, Major Lorne."

The man rolled his eyes and laughed, throwing his arm around Janet. "I think you can call me 'Evan'," he said with a grin. "It's good to have you back, Major Carter."

"I think you can call me 'Sam'," she returned, holding out her hand. "And you must be Richard," Sam said, turning to the tall man standing next to Cassie. "It's nice to meet you."

"Likewise," he said, holding out his hand. "I've heard a lot about you. Cass talks about you all the time, especially since you got back. I wish you could have been at the wedding."

Sam smiled sadly. "So do I."

"Cassie tells me you've been in protective custody," Richard said, seeming genuinely concerned.

"Yeah," Sam said, nodding. "For a long time." She was suddenly aware of just how hard Cassie's life must be. She was married to a doctor. A bright, intelligent, young man that she loved with all her heart, who knew nothing about the fact that she was technically an alien and had no idea she travelled to other planets every week.

"That must have been hard," he continued.

"Yeah. Yeah, it was. I missed everyone a lot." Sam regarded him with a smile. He wasn't what she'd expected would be a good match for the bright, energetic young woman that Cassie had become, but Sam instantly felt that he was perfect for her. He was the calm behind the storm, in a way, and something about him just put everyone at ease. She hadn't quite known what Daniel had meant when he told her that, but she could already tell that he was right.

"Grub's up!"

They all turned as Jack headed for the table, his arms laden with plates of food. Her father, Paul, and a man that Sam didn't know followed with more plates. It took half an hour of cajoling the younger children into calming down enough to eat before the adults were really able to appreciate their – now cold – food, but Sam was enjoying every second of her evening.

"So, Jonas, I'm sorry, where are you from?" she asked, helping herself to more of the vegetables that Janet had brought with her.

"Eh, Jonas is my cousin from up North," Jack said, his eyes telling her the truth, and she almost winced at her unintentional slip up. "You remember, Carter."

"Sorry, yeah." She glanced at the man, who was grinning widely at her, showing off his dimples. She couldn't help but smile back. "You like it here, though, I take it?"

"Love it. The food's so much better."

A groan came from more than one person at the table and Sam grinned. It was clearly a topic that came up often.

"So what part of Deep Space Telemetry drew you to the project on the mountain," Richard asked and Sam wondered if the man truly believed their terrible cover story.

"A change of scenery, more than anything," Jonas replied, unperturbed. "I looked into my other options, thought about maybe trying Europe, but when my Cousin Jack, here, made me an offer? Well, I just couldn't refuse."

The conversation was quickly steered away from work and Sam happily settled into her surroundings. She found that, yes, Cassie and Janet were right and that, perhaps, she and Rodney Mackay were never meant to meet. However, it seemed that the presence of Paul and Colonel Sheppard ("Call me, John.") somehow kept him from alienating everyone. He was soon deep in discussion with more than half the table about the science of film, or rather how it couldn't really be called science at all.

Sam's head was spinning as she tried to keep up with names and faces, trying to log everything in her head so that she could remember it all later. She was eventually drawn into an in-depth conversation about the merits of Country music with John, Evan, and Major Ashley Harper (a member of SG7, along with Jonas, Cassie, and John) and found herself pulled into a lively debate that rivalled the ones she had often had with Terri on the subject. She found that Cassie was right about Pike's ability to remain silent, even in the midst of conversation he was involved in. But more than that, she was happy to say that the more she conversed with everyone the more she could completely understand Jack's choice of replacements for SG1.

Captain Michael Ward was a light-hearted, pleasant man who didn't quite seem completely at ease within his CO's home. Sam knew that, as much as Jack needed to like his team and be liked in return, he appreciated that the line of command needed to be followed. Jack needed to know that, even in this social setting, if they were suddenly called to action, Ward would instantly drop his carefree, relaxed posture and follow Jack's command. It was something that, even despite the unusual circumstances that had surrounded Sam's own relationship with her CO, Jack had always known would be the case with her; first and foremost, she had to be capable of following his command no matter what the circumstances had been when they had been called to action.

As for the other replacement within SG1, Sam had to admit she had initially been rather uncomfortable at the idea of being replaced by someone so…_young_ and _gorgeous_. It seemed, however, that she wasn't the only one who had initially been daunted by the meeting and, luckily, the feeling hadn't lasted long on either side. Whilst Doctor Olivia Bennett had been rather unsure about talking to her at first, when they had begun to help clear the table the two women had bonded over Gravitational Waves and the Grand Unified Theory. It all seemed rather cliché, given their line of work, but, having had certain experiences that were directly linked to the topic, Sam found herself conversing passionately.

Whilst Olivia had studied straight Physics, rather than Astrophysics, given her current line of work, the woman had a certain degree of interest in Astronomy and they soon found themselves engaged in conversation that was equal parts interest and knowledge on both sides. So much so that Sam didn't even notice the time until Sarah crawled into her lap and promptly fell asleep with her face in Sam's neck.

"I think I might need to get the kids home," Sam said when Olivia laughed at the snuffling sound coming from the six year old. "What time is it?"

"Past midnight," Paul supplied as he approached.

"Midnight?" she asked incredulously, looking at her watch more out of habit than thinking that he would be lying to her. "I can't believe the time got away from me so fast."

Olivia looked worried. "I'm sorry for keeping you."

"Are you kidding?" Sam asked, grinning. "That's the most thrilling and intelligent conversation I've had in a long time! Don't get me wrong, Liam can hold his own, but there's only so much a twelve year old can understand."

Olivia smiled. "I know what you mean. My niece just turned eleven and she's decided she wants to be a physicist like me, but she gets really angry when I talk about something she hasn't learned yet and won't talk to me until I give her as much research on the topic as I can find. She doesn't even understand it, she just wants to make me proud."

"That's something I can understand," Cassie said, smiling at Sam as she approached. "Richard and I are leaving now, but I'll see you on the base tomorrow?"

Sam nodded and smiled as Cassie pulled her into as much of a hug as she could manage with a six year old between them. "Say good night to Richard for me?"

"I will, he's outside trying to manoeuvre the car out of the driveway. I think Rodney's jeep is blocking us in. John went out to see if he could get it out of the way."

"Yeah, I think he's just gonna stay out there and wait for us; we're leaving now as well," Paul said. "Shep gave us a ride in Rodney's jeep. His car's in the shop and McKay's more likely to kill himself if he's driving alone."

"Hey!" came an indignant reply from across the room. "It's not my fault that my mind is better occupied by more exciting details than the rules of the road." Paul rolled his eyes, but he was smiling as Rodney gathered his coat and called over his shoulder. "John said to hurry up or he's leaving without you."

"We're just coming," Paul said, shaking his head. "I'm off duty for the next few days, but you have my number?"

Sam nodded. "Yeah, we should go for a coffee."

"Sound like a plan." He leaned down to kiss her on the cheek and went looking for his daughter, Joanne, whom he found curled into a ball next to Katie and Major Harper's youngest daughter, all of whom were fast asleep.

"How's he doing?" Olivia asked quietly and Cassie sighed.

"Better. Dad says he did better today than he has the last two years."

During the rest of their afternoon in the café, Janet and Cassie had filled her in on most of the goings on within the SGC and the conversation had focussed mainly on the people who had been present at the barbeque. After finding out about her past friendship with Paul, the two women had told her about how her friend had lost his fiancé, Jessie, two years before and today just happened to be the anniversary of the day she had died.

"I'm surprised he didn't bring Natalie tonight."

"Who's Natalie?" Sam asked, shushing Sarah as she started to whimper in her sleep.

"Joanne's nanny." Cassie sighed before answering Olivia's question. "I think he felt awkward having her here today, given that we'd all be thinking about Jessie and I think Nat still feels like she's trying to take over Jess' life when she's around us. Jess was great and everyone loved her. I remember when I came back from my final year at University and Mom and Dad were on holiday. Jessie insisted that I stay with them, even though I was eighteen. She was convinced that I'd spent every moment of the whole year either studying or partying and not eating properly, so she was determined to take care of me, even though she was pregnant. She was really funny and sarcastic and she just fit with everyone. I think Natalie feels like she's imposing, or that we're all looking at her and wishing she was Jess."

Sam glanced over at Paul again as he made his way to the door with Joanne in his arms. She'd missed out on so much and, no matter how much information was given to her, she wondered if she'd ever know her friends well enough to fit in with them again. The group had grown and changed and so much had happened in her life and in theirs, that Sam wasn't so sure there was a place for her anymore. There were things she just didn't know, because she hadn't been there and, given her faux pas with Jonas earlier, Sam wondered what other bits of information people had forgotten to tell her, simply because they forgot she didn't already know. It was that, more than anything, that drove home just how much she had lost by leaving.

x x x x x x x

**END OF PART NINE**


	10. Ten

**What's Simple Is True**

**By Kyizi**

_**Disclaimer etc in chapter one**_

x x x x x x x

**Part Ten**

x x x x x x x

"Wakey, wakey, rise and shine!"

"Oomf!" Sam grunted and turned onto her stomach as Alice giggled and slid off her. When Sam cracked one eye open, she found her face mere centimetres from her daughter's bright blue eyes. Alice giggled and leaned forward to rub their noses together.

"You're being lazy again, Momma."

"I am not lazy."

"Uhu, you are," Alice said with a cheeky smile. "And you're heavy. Jack was making lots of funny noises when he carried you last night."

Sam shot up so suddenly that she almost knocked Alice off the bed. Grabbing hold of the squirming six year old, Sam took inventory of herself and her surroundings. She was still wearing the same clothes she had been wearing the previous night at the barbeque, although she was now missing her shoes, and she was most definitely in Jack O'Neill's bedroom. She was also very confused.

"Mom, will you please come downstairs and tell Sarah to stop being annoying?"

Sam glanced at the doorway where Liam was leaning against the frame, looking at her with an expression on his face that was so utterly and completely _Orlin_ that her heart jumped in her chest and she was suddenly filled with so much guilt about where she was that she almost forgot to breath.

"Mom?"

"I'll go tell Sarah to shut up," Alice said in rare show of understanding and slid off the bed and out the door.

Liam walked tentatively towards her, still frowning, and stood beside the bed, unsure as to what to do next. Sam reached out to him, her fingers slowly trailing down his cheeks and tracing the frame of his face.

"You are _so much_ like your father," she whispered, smiling despite the tears collecting in the corners of her eyes.

"I'm sorry."

"No. No, Liam, please don't ever be sorry about that. Ever." She pulled him into a hug. "You give me a little piece of him that I get to keep forever. You and the girls are all I have left of him."

He let her hold him for longer than she thought he might. When he did finally pull away, he sat next to her on Jack's bed and sighed. "Mom?" he said, looking up at her.

"Yeah."

"I don't want you to be sad anymore."

"Liam, honey, I'm not sad."

He shook his head. "Yeah, you are. But…"

"But what?"

"But Dad wouldn't want you to be sad. He hated it when you were sad." Sam took a deep breath, but Liam continued before she could say anything. "I miss him. I miss him lots, but he told me something I forgot."

"What's that?" she asked, barely able to get the words past the lump in her throat.

"He told me that he was always with us. Ali says she can talk to his friends and they say he's happy. I think he's really watching us sometimes. Like he wants us to be happy and we don't have to be happy without him because he's still here."

"I always knew you were a smart kid."

"Jack carried you up."

Sam cleared her throat. "So Alice informed me."

"It was my idea." Sam frowned when he wouldn't meet her gaze. "You fell asleep before Aunt Janet and Uncle Evan left and when Jack said we should get you out to the car I knew he wanted us to stay. Sarah was asleep so Uncle Teal'c put her in the Den, but Ali wanted to tuck you in."

"Oh." Sam wasn't really sure what else she could say to that. Jack O'Neill had put her to bed and her daughter had tucked her in…and Liam had let it happen.

"I do like Jack," he muttered a moment later. "But he's not Dad."

"And he'd never try to be." Liam nodded and she sighed. "I know things seem very complicated, things _are_ very complicated, but you and your sisters are the most important people in my life. Never forget that. There is so much that I need to fix here, Liam, so much that I can never take back or change, but I need to try to make it all okay. I hurt a lot of people and I can never change that, but I want to try to make it better."

"You hurt Jack a lot, didn't you?"

"A lot, a lot," Sam said, repeating his favourite childhood phrase, and he smiled at her. "I'm sorry I can't explain things with Jack, Liam, things were always complicated between us. I really hurt him and I hurt myself."

"He loves you," Liam said. She was so shocked by the statement that she couldn't even begin to decipher the tone of his voice. He regarded her for a minute. "I don't wanna go home, Mom. I don't want to go back to my old school."

"You've said that before. You always changed your mind."

Liam shrugged. "Dad always said I 'shouldn't let them get to me', but I hate it. I hate school. I hate that I'm smarter then everyone, because they hate me for it."

"Liam, why didn't you ever say anything?" Sam asked, unable to stop herself from wondering how she'd _missed_ this. She hadn't noticed how unhappy he was.

"Because you never did. You always used to do your work and you'd say stuff about how it was all wrong and Dad said you hated being smarter than everyone and not being allowed to tell them they were wrong, so I thought…"

"You thought that you weren't allowed to say anything either." Sam sighed. "I'm so sorry, sweetheart. I never meant for you to think that."

"It's okay. I like it when you teach me stuff. Stuff that's really hard and not the stupid stuff we do at school."

"What about your friends?"

"Jamie's way older and he only hangs out with me when we go to see Aunt Terri and Uncle Mike."

"And what about Peter and George?"

Liam shrugged. "We can email and stuff. I just… I wanna stay here with Uncle Daniel and Aunt Amy and…and Jack. I think Dad would want us to. And you're happy."

"Oh, Liam, you can't make this decision based on what I want. It's a big step and it's not just you, it's not even just us, your sisters have a life back home, too."

"I just…Dad's not there anymore. And everyone here knows who he really was and you get to be you here. I…I like you. I mean, who you are when you're here. You're still my mom, but you're, I dunno, you're _more_. Jack said you saved the planet a bunch of times and..." Liam sighed. "I just…home is where dad was, but he's not there anymore and I don't like that he's not. And he always said 'a house is just bricks, its people that build a home'." Liam looked at her. "I think I get that now. Can we just…can I bring all my stuff and…and we could bring the rug dad dropped lasagne on when Ali and Sarah were babies?"

Sam laughed a little, still reeling and unsure as to what he was really saying to her. "Liam, I haven't really thought about the future. I'm too worried about the now. One step at a time, okay. We'll talk about it more later. Just focus on the now."

Liam grinned suddenly. "Okay, becase the now is _so_ cool. Watch this."

Frowning at him, Sam tried to figure out what he was up to. So, when he stood up to face her and winked at her, she was suddenly very curious. Curiosity, however, soon turned into blink panic when he evaporated in a swirl of light.

"Liam!"

"I'm right here, Mom."

Sam stood up, whirled around in a circle, looked everywhere, but she still couldn't see him. "Liam!"

"What's going on?" Jack thundered into the room, he'd been on his way up the stairs when he heard her panicked call.

"Liam's-"

"Right here!"

Jack's reaction to her son suddenly re-appearing right next to him would have amused her greatly if her heart hadn't stopped beating about sixty seconds before. Liam was grinning at her and, given that Jack had likely worked out what had been going on, she was faced with a matching one from her former CO.

"That was pretty cool."

"Yeah," Liam said nodding. "I was playing hide and seek with Ali and Sarah earlier and I found a great way to win."

"I'll say. Can you do it again?"

"Liam Daniel Walker! Don't you _ever_ do that to me again! Do I make myself clear?" Her voice suddenly thundered through the room and even Jack, who had never heard that tone from her before, looked startled. "And don't you dareencourage him Jack O'Neill."

"Sorry?" Liam said, gulping slightly.

"Yes, Sir," Jack replied, a slight smile on his lips as he saluted her.

"This is not funny."

Liam rolled his eyes. "Janet said she wanted to know if I could do it when I wanted to, that's what we're doing today when we go into the mountain. I just wanted to try it first…without everyone watching."

"Kid's got a point."

Sam glared and Jack, but he just raised his eyebrows at her. "Liam, go downstairs and make sure the girls aren't driving your grandfather up the wall." He turned and ran out of the room, clearly glad to be free of his mother's disapproval. "And _no_ disappearing."

"He was just messin' around, Carter."

"He scared the life out of me, Jack. Don't tell me I'm not allowed to be angry. He's _my_ son." The moment she said the words, she wanted to take them back. She closed her eyes, let out a slow breath, and sat back onto the bed. "Jack, I didn't mean it to sound like…like…God, I don't know I just-"

"I know."

"No, Jack, this is one time where you don't know, because _I_ don't even know. I just…do you have any idea what Liam said to me less than five minutes ago?"

"I have an inkling?"

She hadn't been expecting an answer. She turned to look at him and something in his eyes told her that she wasn't the first person Liam might have had words with. She turned away and groaned, dropping her head into her hands.

"Oh, God, what did he say?"

Jack smiled. "He just let me know that I was no longer Public Enemy Number One."

"How…exactly did he do that?"

"Sam."

She met his gaze and she suddenly knew exactly what Liam had said to Jack. She just wasn't sure how she felt about it.

"God, were we _always _this transparent?" she suddenly demanded and Jack laughed.

"Look, Carter…Sam, I don't know what you think Liam told me, but listen to what I'm telling you. You accused me of something the other night and you didn't give me the chance to tell you you were wrong. It doesn't happen a lot, but when you get things wrong, you get them _really_ wrong."

"Jack, I-"

"No, it's my turn to talk," Jack said and she blinked. "You were the one who left it in the room that day. You had to be the one to let it out and I thought you knew that. I thought we all knew that. So maybe I was wrong, too. Look, whatever happened back then is done and we can't change it. So let me tell you how I see things now."

"Okay," she said, acknowledging both what be had and _hadn't_ said. He was right, they couldn't change the past. "So what now?"

"We're done. I'm done. I'm done with all of this. I don't want to deal with it anymore. I told you I could never stay mad at you long and I guess I've reached my limit. So I'm done with being angry at you. You can't change the past and God knows I've done enough in my own that I wish I could change. I'm done. We're fine. Good, even. Great, in fact. And I'm here. For whatever you need. Okay?"

Whatever he had expected her reaction to be, Sam was pretty sure he hadn't expected it to be a punch in the face. She was sure, however, that he would never start a sentence with the words 'we're done' ever again.

x x x x x x x

"How's Mark?"

Sam turned to face Daniel, smiling widely. "He's good. Dad's here for another two weeks, so we're taking the kids to Grand Rapids for five days next week. Janet thinks Liam should be stable enough with his…_ability_ by then that it won't be an issue and Sarah and Alice are going to be taught a few lessons on 'what's acceptable to talk about in front of the every day populace', so it should be a good trip."

"You realise, of course, that the adults are going to be outnumbered two to one, right?"

Sam laughed. "Yeah, but Hannah's almost eighteen, so she's not likely to be there much, Andrew's sixteen so I can't imagine him stirring up too much trouble, and James is eleven, so I'm hoping he and Liam will be happy enough with some video games and a few trips to the soccer pitch. That'll even out the odds."

"The kids seem excited about meeting their cousins."

"Yeah," Sam said softly. "They're handling this all so well. They've gone from having no one but me and Kevin, and Terri, Mike and the kids, to having a huge family. I expected more problems than this, actually."

"If there's one thing that Katie's taught me it's that kids adapt very easily."

"Yeah, it's the parent's that have the trouble," she said with a sigh.

"Sam, you're handling this."

"I'm getting there." She smiled and reached out to squeeze his hand. "You sure you're okay to handle them this afternoon?"

"Yeah, if it's still okay with you then Jack's going to take Liam over to his. Matthew called in to see Jack and ask if Liam was still going to be around. He wasn't sure, at the barbeque, if Liam would still be here."

"No, that's fine. Liam hasn't played hockey since we left North Carolina. I'm surprised he hasn't asked about finding someone to play with sooner, actually. Matthew's Captain Ward's kid, isn't he?"

"Yeah, you met his mom, Elissa, the other night, too."

"I remember. They seemed nice enough and if Jack's going to be there I can't see a problem with it."

"I think that's why he's going," Daniel said with a smile. "I think he figured you'd be more likely to let Liam play if you knew one of us was there to watch out for him and, God knows, I'm no good at hockey."

Sam laughed, jumping when she heard the car horn outside. "That must be Paul. I'll see you later."

"Anytime, we've got no plans. Although, I'm warning you now that I'm cooking tonight, Tigh called; Amy's mission's been extended until tomorrow. Zalenka found some naquada."

"You know, I'm not entirely sure I still have the clearance for you to be telling me this," Sam said and Daniel snorted.

"Sam, things might be a bit up in the air right now, but there's no way the SGC is planning on letting you go this time." He smiled. "There's no way _we're_ letting you go this time."

There was a knock at the door and Sam smiled, kissing Daniel's cheek before moving to answer it. Katie, however, had got there first and was currently attached to Paul's left leg, squealing "fly me! Fly me!"

"Katie, leave the poor man alone," Daniel said, stepping outside and attempting to detach his daughter. Paul, for his part, was laughing and attempting to oblige and was raising his leg off the ground with the young girl still attached.

"Girls!" Sam called, hearing her daughters shouting in the next room. "I'm going out and I want you to be good for your Uncle Daniel, okay?"

Somehow, despite the unanimous, "Yes, momma!" that followed her question, she had the feeling that Daniel was in for one hell of an afternoon. After her own experiences with Katie, however, she found that she didn't have much sympathy for him.

They drove into town and found a small coffee shop that Sam had never seen before. She was pretty sure that the last time she'd been in that part of town it had been an arcade; she couldn't say that it wasn't an improvement.

"So," she said as they settled into their chairs, her hands cupping a warm, strong coffee that was making her mouth water. She smiled wryly at him. "How've you been?"

He chuckled. "Good. Bad. Better. Not so good. Terrible. Okay. Take your pick." He sighed. "Fifteen years is a long time."

"Yeah, yeah, it is."

He glanced at her and took a deep breath. "I take it you heard about Jessie."

She nodded. "Janet and Cassie told me. Paul, I'm so sorry."

He winced. "Did they tell you who she was?"

"She was your fiancé," Sam said softly.

"Yeah, but did they…" he sighed. "Sam, I was engaged to…Jo's mom was Jessie Bradford."

"J-Jessica Bradford?" she asked, her voice catching in her throat. "But then…Oh, God."

"I'm so sorry. I wasn't sure if they knew and I didn't know how to tell you."

Sam took steady breaths, calming her sudden desire to just burst into tears. She had been slowly getting the hang of things again and, once more, life had thrown her another curve ball.

Sam had had few close female friends in her whole life; being brought up on army bases and moving around a lot had meant that she had learnt to meet people she was willing to leave behind and not form any lasting friendships. It hadn't taken her long to realise that boys were just easier that way. They didn't want you to write to them when you left and they played sports, which Sam had always loved.

Her first real experience with a close female friend hadn't arrived until she had been studying at university. Her dorm mate had been an energetic, sarcastic, overtly friendly (and very boy crazy) girl called Jessica Bradford. The girl was Sam's complete opposite; short and curvy with long curly black hair, Jessica had never had trouble finding what she called 'a good time'. And she had it in her head that she had to help Sam do the same.

Despite their outward differences, they were both intelligent young scientists and they had a lot more in common than Sam would have ever initially thought possible. When they had left university, Sam had found the first friend she didn't _want_ to leave behind. So, when they had both ended up in the Pentagon, Sam had thought her lucky stars were shining on her.

They had shared lab space, drank gallons of coffee together, gone drinking all night, and planned camping trips that had always gone wrong, but more than anything, Sam had a friend. Until she had met Janet, Sam hadn't thought there would be another woman she would ever feel so close to. Even though their communication had become rather sporadic after her move to the SGC, Jessica was the one constant Sam had always thought would be in her life. She'd planned to track her friend down before going to visit her brother.

But Jessica was dead and, because she'd always kept her life before the SGC separate, no one had _known_ to tell her.

"Sam?"

"Sorry," she took another deep breath and cleared her throat. "I'm sorry, I just…"

"It's okay." Paul smiled sadly. "No, it's not okay. You more than anyone know that. But…"

"But it's not as bad as it was."

"Yeah, it's not as bad as it was."

"Does it really 'get easier'?" she asked softly.

"No. No, it really doesn't. It just…you think about it less and then you feel guilty about thinking about it less…but then your kid smiles at you and you realise that you're not alone. And that it's okay to _not_ think about it sometimes. And that…maybe…_maybe_ its okay to close that bit of your heart away for special occasions…when being sad is allowed."

"Like yesterday?"

"Like yesterday." He smiled. "But then you find that you're allowed to think about the good stuff, too. And that's not so bad."

"I guess I can deal with that."

"How long ago did...?"

Sam frowned. "Almost two years. Feels like longer sometimes and others…"

"It feels like you woke up next to them yesterday."

"Yeah, exactly."

They smiled at each other, before Paul grinned widely. "You're the reason we got together, you know." At her look, he continued. "When you…left, she was, God, she was so worried. We both were. She hadn't known until you didn't turn up to meet her a week later. She knew that you and I had been friends, and we both tried to get all the information we could from the SGC. I was transferred there about five months after you left and I was the only person she knew at the SGC, so she called me the day after I started. When I had no news, she told me she'd call me again the following day. She called me every day I was on base for five weeks. We…I guess we started talking about more than just you."

He smiled at her and continued. "We didn't have a lot in common, really, but we just…clicked. I think we talked every day for about a year before Rodney called me on it and told me I should just grow a pair and ask her out."

"I'm surprised she hadn't asked you by then," Sam said, grinning. "She wasn't exactly known for being subtle."

"So I've heard." There was a twinkle in his eyes that Sam wasn't sure she liked. "I've heard a lot about failed camping trips and certain nights out…"

"You can't blame any of that on me! She was the bad influence!"

Paul laughed. "Somehow, I can't see Jessie voluntarily going to a Biker's bar and then starting a br-"

"Oh, my God! You are never to tell anyone about that! Ever."

Somehow, she didn't find the twinkle in his eyes very reassuring.

x x x x x x x

"Good day?" Jack asked with a smile, stepping aside to let her in.

"Very long, very emotional day," Sam replied with a tired smile, leading the way into the kitchen.

She and Paul had spent hours reminiscing over their pasts. They shared stories about Jessica that had Sam's heart aching at what seemed like such a recent loss to her. Paul told her about Joanne's birth and how Jessica had broken every finger on his left hand. She had told him about her life as Mrs. Annie Walker. He'd filled her in on everything from the SGC, including the things that no one else had wanted to tell her; about how angry Jack had been, even all those months later when Paul had transferred; about how long it took before Daniel learned to smile again, about how Teal'c had almost lost his way home forever, about everything she had yet to learn about those missing years.

Paul had also informed her that they had just caught Colonel Makepeace, who, as it turned out, had been the one to turn her in. Having intended to use her as leverage against the SGC, he had found himself empty handed when Hammond had played his last card.

Most of all, however, they had talked about the one thing that they were both having so much trouble with. They both called it by a different name, but whether it was called 'Natalie' or 'Jack', they had both come to the same conclusion. It didn't matter how much they thought they had to get on with life, because although life moved on, moving with it wasn't as easy as it was made out to be. They had to go at their own pace. And they had each other to lean on when things got rough. They had a lot of people to lean on when things got too hard to handle.

"Liam's in the den blowing up aliens." The brief moment of alarm on Sam's face was enough to make him chuckle. "On a small screen," he said wryly. "Although, I wouldn't be surprised if he was practicing for the future."

"I'd really rather that was something he never had to do."

"I know." He watched her for a few minutes, but, for once, she was barely aware of it. "What's wrong?"

"Did…did you know I was friends with Jessica Bradford?" The look on his face was enough of an answer. "I didn't think so. You know…I never realised how little you all knew about my life before the SGC. It never occurred to me until lately how little we all knew…did you realise that? That we…I was going to call her before we left to visit Mark. I was…God, I am so _tired_ of crying!"

Sam took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She jerked when she felt his hands cupping her face. Her eyes flickered open, as his thumb caressed his jaw.

"I knew you," he said softly. "The little details? They're important, but they aren't who you are, Sam. I knew you. And you knew me."

She smiled at him, nodding her head slowly, almost nuzzling his palm. She wasn't sure when she realised he was moving closer to her, or when her hands had moved to his chest, but there was one thing she was sure of.

"Jack," she whispered. "It's too soon. I'm sorry, it's just…"

He nodded. "I know." Smiling at her, he kissed her forehead and pulled her into a hug.

She wasn't sure how long they stood there like that, in his kitchen, holding onto each other tightly, but Sam knew that his words would be ringing in her head for a very long time.

"Whenever you're ready."

x x x x x x x

_Two years later…_

"Sarah! Alice! Hurry up or you're going to be late for school!" Sam moved quickly around the kitchen, filling up the packed lunch boxes with fruit and a chocolate bar. As she turned around, she almost tripped over the hockey sticks that were leaning against the fridge.

"Liam, will you clear away your mess!" she cried, kicking them out of the way as she opened the fridge door and pulled out the juice boxes.

"Mom, Ali stole my pencils again!"

Sam groaned. "Alice, give your sister back her pencils and will the two of you please get a move on? Liam, how's that homework coming?"

"It's not here!"

Sighing at the frustration in her son's voice, she closed the last box and walked out into the hallway. "What do you mean it's not there? You finished it last night."

Sam jumped when a voice behind her called out, "It's in the den, Liam!" She turned in time to see Jack trying to sneak out the back door with the two hockey sticks she had almost fallen over. "Sorry," he said meekly. "Forgot to put them away last night."

Before she could reply, there was a sudden thundering on the stairs. "Slow down!" she cried as the girls came careering into the kitchen. "Will you please _stop_ running down the stairs."

"We weren't running," Sarah said, putting her lunch in her bag.

"We were running, then_ jumping_," Alice clarified with a cheeky grin.

The doorbell rang at the same time as one of the lunchboxes began floating mid-air and crossing the kitchen by itself.

"I'll get it!" Sarah cried at the same time as Sam growled at the floating lunchbox.

"Liam! Make yourself visible right now."

He appeared in front of the back door in time for Jack to almost walk into him. "You could see it?" he asked Sam, waving the lunchbox at her. "Damn, I thought I had it that time."

"You made it work with the puck yesterday," Jack said, ruffling his hair. "You'll get it eventually."

"But _not_ until you're on base or doing it with our permission," Sam continued and Liam rolled his eyes.

"Mom?"

She turned as Sarah entered the kitchen again. "What is it, sweetie?" Sam asked. "Who was it?"

Sarah opened her mouth, but didn't seem sure how to answer. "The lady inside Ali's head is at the door."

There was a tinkling of laughter behind her and suddenly a woman appeared.

"Hey Asha," Alice said with a smile.

"Hello Alice." The woman turned to smile at the rest of the room. "Hello Samantha."

"Come on, we'll be late for school," Alice said. "And we get to play on the trampolines this morning."

Jack cleared his throat. "I'll take them," he said, picking up his keys and looking back and forth between Sam and the smiling alien. "I'll see you at the base?"

"Yeah," Sam said, shaking her head. She turned to him and smiled. "Briefing at 0900?"

He nodded and gave her a quick kiss. "Okay, kids, let's go."

As Jack ushered her three children out of the door, Sam stared at the woman she hadn't spoken to in over seventeen years and wondered whether or not she should be offering the Ancient a cup of coffee.

x x x x x x x

"Everything okay?"

Sam turned and smiled as Jack fell into step beside her. "Yeah, everything's fine…just…strange."

"Was, eh, was she your only visitor?"

Sam nodded. "Orlin's gone. He's…he's around, but he's…he's not really the same. He doesn't remember us."

Jack winced. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay. Really. I think it'd be a lot harder if he was still here and he was…still Kevin." They turned the corner, greeting SG2 as the team made their way to the infirmary for the post mission check up. "Asha just wanted to…check in, I guess," she continued. "Make sure we were all okay."

Jack nodded, glancing at her out of the corner of his eyes. "And? Are you?" he asked quietly.

She stopped walking and turned to face him. "Yeah," she said softly, smiling at him. "I really am." She glanced either way and, after making sure they were really alone, she pulled on his jacket and kissed him. She was ginning as she pulled back and so was Jack.

"Thank you, thank you for everything." She said softly, both of them pulling apart when two members of SG4 walked around the corner. "I love you, Jack O'Neill."

His grin widened and, regardless of the fact that the corridor was no longer empty, he pulled her into another kiss. "I love you, too, Sam."

x x x x x x x

**The End**

**Note:** So, yeah, as I said, it's a very old fic. I'm just glad to have it finally finished off. I hope you enjoyed and if there are any typos I'm unlikely to go back and change them and, yeah, there are plenty of clichés in there, I'm sure, but I'm quite happy to ignore them all!


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